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Laura Coates Live
Tensions Flare Between Police and Protesters as L.A. Unrest Spreads. Aired 11p-12a ET
Aired June 09, 2025 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[23:00:00]
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: -- were report -- deport -- yes, he was. They were deporting people from the interior to the point where -- I know you remember this.
UNKNOWN: Yeah.
PHILLIP: It was a huge political problem for Barack Obama.
UNKNOWN: Absolutely.
PHILLIP: So, look -- listen --
UNKNOWN: They're not for Obama.
PHILLIP: -- the question -- I think the question that I'm asking you all is about -- look, I understand Republicans voted for deportation. That is -- that is on the table. But the question is about tactics and strategy, and whether they're effective or whether they're counterproductive.
UNKNOWN: Exactly.
PHILLIP: And I think that's where we are as a country right now.
(CROSSTALK)
UNKNOWN: -- all about causing a scene.
PHILLIP: All right, guys, we are at the top -- we are at the top of the hour. Everyone, thank you very much. CNN special coverage continues right now with Laura Coates.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News.
LAURA COATES, CNN HOST AND SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Good evening. I'm Laura Coates looking at live photos right now from Los Angeles where the sun is now setting on a fourth day of protests sparked by the Trump administration's immigration raids.
A short time ago, police began throwing flash bangs and shooting rubber bullets to near the area near the federal building in Downtown Los Angeles. Some protesters were seen throwing plastic bottles and fireworks at the officers. This is all unfolding as President Trump is deploying the U.S. military to L.A., he has ordered 700 Marines to the city, and California's governor says that he has been told Trump plans to bring in an additional 2,000 National Guard troops. That's on top of the 2,000 who were first deployed.
The protests are spreading to other cities tonight. Looking also here at Dallas. On the left is a clash between police and protesters earlier, and on the right is a standoff that's happening as you and I are talking.
CNN's Jason Carroll is live on the ground in Downtown Los Angeles. Jason, it has been a tense, tense few hours. What is the status now?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Laura, for the past 20, 30 minutes or so, we've been in a holding pattern. And I -- and I say that because if you look at these line of officers right now, right over here, you can see they are engaging somewhat with some of these protesters who were out here, but it certainly isn't the volatile situation that we saw out here a half an hour ago and then a half hour before that and then 20 minutes before that, this sort of back and forth with these officers and the protesters.
And when it was, I don't know, just about an hour or so ago, you had a much larger presence of protesters who were out here, Laura. At certain points, they were throwing bottles, they were throwing other devices, other things, at some of these officers. It's when they threw the fireworks at the officers, that's when they moved in, started using rubber bullets, started using these flash bangs, whatever they could to get these crowds moved back.
Now, I also want to sort of move around in this other direction to show you there are more officers down here at the end of this street where we are, in Downtown Los Angeles, right towards the Arts District. So, you've got a line of officers who are down there, a line of officers who you just saw, and then this crowd here, now much more sparse than what we saw just a few hours ago.
And that's sort of in the back and forth that I've been talking about. Each time we see these officers move in as aligned force, the crowd seems to disperse a little bit more and a little bit more.
The question then becomes, Laura, as the crowd disperses, who's left? I mean, what we've seen is a number of the people who were out here earlier, who wanted to make a point about migrants' rights and about getting ICE out of the state, about getting the National Guard out of Los Angeles. A lot of those people who wanted -- who were on message have disappeared and, in all likelihood, have gone home. What's left is a different type of group.
And so now becomes the point where we see what officers who are here, what they're going to do. We have not seen a great deal of arrests that have been out here, at least from this vantage point, but we have seen some of these officers now with white zip ties. And so, the question now becomes, how much longer will they stand here and continue to engage with these -- with these protesters who are left? Laura?
COATES: As the sun is going down, these officers have gone nowhere, Jason. They are probably expecting, obviously, to be there quite some time.
Let me ask you, though, in terms of -- the message out here in Washington, D.C. has been that the National Guard might be being brought in or is being brought in. Has that message reached these protesters? Are they aware? Is there some murmuring in the crowd about it?
CARROLL: Without question. And where we were, at the federal building, several blocks away, you could see a number of national guards -- guardsmen and women who are out there in full force.
[23:04:55]
And in talking to the people who've been coming out here to demonstrate, it is one of the points that they've made, is that why the -- was the decision made by the administration to call in the National Guard. I mean, look, these protesters, Laura, as you -- as you may well imagine, already have issues with the LAPD. Adding the National Guard on top of that seemed to, in some ways, invigorate the crowd in some respects, but it also seemed to anger some members of the crowd as well.
And so, one has to question about that decision. These are some of the questions and discussions that would be had after this. But, clearly, from the -- from a number of people that we spoke to, bringing in the National Guard was something that either invigorated some of those that we spoke to and angered others.
COATES: And, as you say, that line of officers remains. Even though the crowd is dispersing, they're undoubtedly preparing for what might be to come.
Jason Carroll, please stand by. I want to go back to you in just a moment.
I want to bring in former Minneapolis police chief, Madaria Arradondo. He was the chief when George Floyd was killed by a former officer five years ago. Chief, what is your assessment right now of how the LAPD is handling all that's in front of them?
MADARIA ARRADONDO, FORMER MINNEAPOLIS POLICE CHIEF: Yeah. Thank you for having me tonight, Laura. Well, first off, I -- I want to commend Chief McDonnell of the LAPD. He's responsible, Laura, ultimately, for the safety and security of the four million Los Angelenos. And so, that's -- that's critical for him right now, that's his number one priority.
Obviously, there are different dynamics going on right now, whether it's the -- the protest taking place outside of the federal jail there. Certainly, they had the -- the issues in downtown. They've declared an unlawful assembly as well as some of the incidents that were occurring on the freeway overpasses. And so -- COATES: And, by the way, chief --
ARRADONDO: -- he's got all of these --
COATES: Excuse me. What would that mean if -- since -- as a chief, if you declared an area an unlawful assembly place, what protocols would that trigger?
ARRADONDO: It's -- it's going to -- Laura, it's going to trigger, first of all, the -- the chief and -- through his intelligence and through, obviously, what he's seeing on the ground. It's unsafe. It's unsafe for business workers down there. It's unsafe for normal -- normal residents of -- of -- of that area as well as for the peaceful protesters themselves.
There's a dynamic of -- of violence and criminal activity that has sprung up, where he has to declare that it's safer for people to leave that area and they must leave that area. So, Chief McDonnell and his teams are -- are dealing with these different multiple dynamics.
Again, his priority is going to not only be to keep those areas safe, but -- but also now with the -- obviously, with the addition of National Guard, those citizen soldiers and airmen, and now with the possibility of -- of military soldiers coming in, logistics, communication -- communication, they've already been under mutual aid, Chief McDonnell had to make sure that, as much as he can, everyone is on the same page as far as the county assistance, the -- the other local state assistance, and now the federal assistance.
It is a massive undertaking, Laura. And as we get into the fourth night here, obviously, there's a concern as night falls, but also you don't want these things to have these protracted engagements over a period of time.
Chief McDonnell has already called for a tactical alert, meaning the Los Angeles Police Department members that you see on your screen, many of those have been working for many, many hours, probably double shifts, they've got to work in logistics to make sure that they have enough personnel to relieve those folks, and then bring in fresh personnel as well.
So, again, Chief McDonnell is also behind the scenes. I can guarantee you, he's having communication, he's reaching out to faith leaders, he's reaching out to union organizers, he's reaching out to those peaceful protest leaders to try to also get them to help with keeping Los Angeles safe and -- and secure for the -- over the next several days here.
COATES: I mean, undoubtedly some of the lessons that you learned from the George Floyd protest that happened in really both of our hometowns in Minnesota.
I -- I do wonder, when you look at that period of time and thinking about the troops that came in there -- I remember seeing tanks in the street at different areas or places I usually had walked even as a child. Tell me about some of those lessons learned and the idea of how you would then calm a situation knowing that the National Guard might be present.
Obviously, it's going to perhaps be triggering, perhaps, or invigorating, as my friend and colleague Jason Carroll noted, for those who do not have the best of intentions.
ARRADONDO: Well, that's -- yeah, that's a great point, Laura, that you mentioned. When we saw some of the National Guard equipment rolling through our streets of Minneapolis, yes, there were many community members who -- that was very traumatizing, very triggering.
[23:10:00]
It was -- it put the onus on me and my leadership team and folks out there in the field to communicate regularly with community members, to explain the reason why. I have to commend our National Guard leadership at the time. They also set aside liaison teams within the National Guard to assist Minneapolis police at that time, to communicate.
COATES: And was that productive, chief, at the time? Was that a productive -- was that --
ARRADONDO: It actually -- was actually --
COATES: Okay.
ARRADONDOL It -- it was very -- it was very productive. I think what the community saw from that, Laura, was that this was not a standalone sort of operations, that both the local police department and our National Guard were working together, and the ultimate goal was to keep our city and our communities safe.
But, to your point, yes, it can be very triggering for communities, but I -- I I -- have no doubt that Chief McDonnell of the LAPD, him and his teams are working to overcommunicate. You can never communicate enough when you have such dynamic and fluid situations going on in your city.
COATES: You wonder also on the flip side of that. If people perceive the local law enforcement in cahoots with National Gard, does that make them less trusting of the law enforcement to handle and quell situation? It's a question that has to be asked to the protesters out there tonight.
Let me ask you, though, because L.A.'s mayor, Karen Bass, says that her city is being, her words, used for an experiment on what the federal government could do. What were your interactions with the federal official, not just National Guard, but the federal officials? What was that like during George Floyd protests?
ARRADONDO: You know, I was very fortunate. I had a very good relationship with our federal partners before May 25th, 2020. And -- and building those relationships in the quiet moments really helped me and our MPD during that time.
So, again, that was -- that was critical, to build those relationships before that. No doubt, again, I believe that Chief McDonnell is really doing a lot of communication with his local state and federal partners.
You know, Laura, the -- the folks that have the advantage on the ground in terms of the public safety apparatus are the LAPD. It's their -- it's their sergeants and their lieutenants and their supervisors. They know the district, they know the neighborhoods, they know the people.
They will also know those who are out there peacefully protesting. And they will also know -- as Jason Carroll mentioned in your -- his report, when the sun goes down and those peaceful protesters leave, those community members are also going to know who's out there, who are bad actors, who are actually causing more harm to the community than good.
COATES: Hmm.
ARRADONDO: And so, LAPD and Chief McDonnell's teams are going to have that advantage, that -- that -- quite frankly, our citizen soldiers and airmen who might not be familiar with L.A, they're not going to know that as well as the other troops coming in.
COATES: Well, the sun is just starting to set in L.A. It has already set in Dallas where we have live footage right now of additional protests happening. You have a line of police vehicles. There are flags on the other side of a crosswalk where you have a group of people that is gathered together, right opposite of law enforcement right now.
You have -- appears to be just regular cars that are stopped on the road beside it as well. Describe for me, chief, what the toll protest in an area could actually take on the law enforcement community, especially if, as you can definitely imagine, different cities are probably communicating about what's happening in their own places.
ARRADONDO: Yeah. Laura, I guarantee you that chiefs around the country, they're communicating, they're certainly watching your program, and they're -- they're relying upon each other.
Obviously, we're in the time of social media. Protest groups are -- they can be in Los Angeles and can be communicating to their counterparts in Dallas or Minneapolis or other parts of the country.
So, the toll that it also takes is it can strain the resources and the personnel of municipal police departments. People have to remember, L.A. has got four million people there.
The crime didn't stop tonight. It's the fourth night of this -- of this engagement. And so, they still have to respond to these calls. And what that does is it may mean that some of those priority one calls or priority calls that they have, it's going to take longer for those officers to get there.
And the police department, they want to go out there, they want to protect and serve. But when these situations happen, it can absolutely tax the resources of a police department. And so, they're trying to do their best to resolve these.
Again, respect First Amendment rights for those peaceful protesters. But individuals will oftentimes, and we saw it in Minneapolis, there'll be a certain group of individuals that will hijack a cause, and it's about destruction and criminality, and that cannot happen.
And so, the chiefs of these cities, Chief McDonnell certainly in Los Angeles, and he has made it loud and clear publicly, he will not tolerate it, and that's to keep everyone safe, not only the residents of Los Angeles, but the men and women in uniform as well.
[23:15:05]
COATES: Chief Madaria Arradondo, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate your time.
I want to bring in U.S. Army retired major general, Randy Manner. He was formerly the acting vice chair of the National Guard Bureau. And Scott Shuchart, a former senior ICE official in the Biden administration. Thank you to both of you for coming today. General, I mean, you called Trump's decision to have the National Guard involved inappropriate. Why?
RANDY MANNER, FORMER ACTING VICE CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL GUARD BUREAU: First of all, the -- the law enforcement is the first way that you go. They're trained. They're on the ground. The chief -- as was already commented on, they -- they know the communities. They know how to do this. The guard, when there is the necessity to do it
Then the city would then ask, local authorities would ask the governor for assistance, and it escalates in that manner. What has happened in this particular case is the president has unilaterally said, I'm going to federalize the National Guard for the 2,000 numbers and now 2,000 more, and I'm going to bypass the governor's wishes.
COATES: And what does federalize mean? It means they have the same authority as law enforcement or more limited powers?
MANNER: They actually have more limited powers except for the fact that the president is now having his desire of having uniformed people on the street, soldiers armed in -- in this situation. And that is an escalation, not a de-escalation of the situation.
So, I commend the chief in L.A. for what he is doing and trying to maintain the safety and order for -- for his citizens.
COATES: But there is a -- as we -- many people are looking at it. They might be wondering, is there a line between when National Guard ought to be called and local law enforcement is overwhelmed, either by the number of people who were out or the reinforcement function of the National Guard? Because that's part of what the limited powers include. Right? They have a reinforcing effect, not a unilateral law enforcement cop effect.
MANNER: That is exactly correct. And as we've already mentioned, the -- the law enforcement agencies as well as the National Guard, they work together all the time. It's not -- you -- you don't have time in crisis to develop relationships.
COATES: Right.
MANNER: So, the state and the local community leaders in the -- in the law enforcement, they have these relationships ongoing. So, they know when to ask for help and to anticipate when will they -- are they going to need help. And that's why you have local community and then regional and then state. And right now, that -- that has all been bypassed by the president.
COATES: You know, I want to ask you, Scott, about this because there is this -- as you mentioned, the learning curve in a crisis is going to be pretty steep. And it can't be. There's not a luxury of being able to do so. Governor Gavin Newsom has not requested the National Guard to be there. This is first time, I think, in, like, over six decades now that a president has put in the National Guard without the request of a governor.
Last time in L.A., George H.W. Bush during the Rodney King riots, he had requested -- excuse me, with Pete Wilson, then governor of California. He requested at that point for him to be there. Talk to me though now about the decision of Governor Gavin Newsom to sue the administration. Prudent or no?
SCOTT SCHUCHART, FORMER SENIOR ICE OFFICIAL, BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: It seems like it was necessary in order to protect the state's sovereign claim. It could -- he is the commander-in-chief of that National Guard. And more to the point, he and his people are the people who are responsible for public safety.
COATES: We're watching right now as you're speaking the police line moving closer to the apparent civilians who are on the streets right now. In Dallas, you're hearing an escalation of horns blowing or watching them walk closer and closer from our overhead view.
We do see a group of people who are scattering around. There is a flag being flown. I -- I believe that's a flag being thrown near the left side of your screen as well. But the police force is moving closer to this group of people at this hour in Dallas. Go ahead.
SCHUCHART: Oh, I was just going to say that he's asserting the state sovereign role in keeping its people safe. What lawsuits have become the way that parts of our government speak to each other now? It doesn't necessarily have to be that way, but it's the mode we operate in now.
COATES: When you look at the trajectory of that litigation, though, obviously, the priority right now is going to be to quell the unrest on the streets of today. But how does this play out in courts? What are the next steps? Who is overseeing this?
SCHUCHART: Well, it's in the Northern District of California. It'll go to a judge in the San Francisco District. Last I checked, it hadn't even been assigned to a judge yet, and the state hadn't asked for any emergency relief.
COATES: Why then that is?
SCHUCHART: I don't know that they really think that there's anything that can be done right now, and I think -- I don't want to characterize it as a political document. It's not a political lawsuit, but it's a lawsuit about explaining the different roles of the different parts of government.
Is there really going to be a role for the judiciary in policing that or is this part of a dialogue that we need to have between the state and the feds about who's going to do which piece of the law enforcement collaboration?
[23:19:56]
COATES: General, when you look at this and think about that collaboration, not just in terms of the what's happening in the legal field -- sphere, but when these two entities are working side by side, obviously, the LAPD, I'm assuming, would take the -- this more senior role here. Is that right?
SCHUCHART: That is correct. The National Guard is always in support, and that's very important to understand that partnership. The National Guard, when it's under the governor's control, is supporting the local sheriff, supporting the local police chief in making things happen.
COATES: So, how does that work in terms of the theory of too many chefs in the kitchen where they have different viewpoints of how to stop a protest?
SCHUCHART: That's where the dilemma is. When you bring in federal troops under NORTHCOM, you report to the president.
COATES: NORTHCOM is what?
SCHUCHART: Northern Command. In other words, these troops are not reporting to the governor. They are reporting to the federal government. And when you don't have that local command and control in the same way, it could open the door for errors or mistakes and it can be disconcerting.
COATES: I'm looking at, apparently, riot shields now having been raised in Dallas. You see that plastic that's being lifted in front of the face and body of the uniformed officers who are now in a line. They have on looks to be some sort of a riot gear of kind -- of kind with the helmets on as well as their shields up.
They're saying across people who have different signs -- I'm not able to read what they say in the moment in time. But this is the police line. They are now moving towards the people. As you can see right now, a quickened pace. They are gathered together, staying in one horizontal line as they're going forward and forward.
You have some people who do have weapons on them as the line appears to be wrapping around the park area, where you've got people who are with signs saying "end ICE," who are looking back at the crowd of officers, who are now right next to a flag, and people who appear to be remaining on the streets, including a flag involving, "free Palestine." This is now in Dallas this morning -- evening. We're seeing it right now, Scott.
I mean, obviously, what we're seeing is an escalation in terms of the approach of these officers towards civilians they would like to leave. This is no longer California. This is now Texas. Do you anticipate there being some sort of legal recourse there as well in terms of the governor acting?
SCHUCHART: It depends on what the governor decides to do. But what I see there are trained police doing trained police maneuvers. Those are not military maneuvers. Police have an entire range of escalation tactics. They have the tools for that. They're trained for that and consistent --
COATES: And they -- they can as well legally?
SCHUCHART: Well, yeah, consistent with the Constitution. Right? They're bound by due process. The crowds are protected by the First Amendment. And police are trained about the right way to find the balance, and
the courts can get involved if the balance isn't struck correctly.
Our troops do a lot of valuable things. But this is not, I don't think, in the top 20 things that active-duty military are trained to do. These are police activities.
COATES: Active-duty military. I think about the Marines who might be deployed as well. It may be doing so as we speak. These are military members not necessarily in Dallas, but military members who are trained for overseas combat.
MANNER: Combat operations.
COATES: This is --
MANNER: Not domestic.
COATES: -- not domestic. Now, describe why that distinction is so important in terms of the way this could play out.
MANNER: I think if we go back in history to find out that story that's always told, that whenever the Marines were there supporting the local police and they said cover me, and the Marines literally opened fire and destroyed the building, that's not -- that word "cover me" does not mean the same thing for police as it does for the Marines. "Cover me" means suppress all possible fire in front of me.
So, the bottom line is we're going to find that active-duty soldiers receive no training on working with Americans. It's not the same whatsoever about dealing in a combat situation.
COATES: What are the risks of having these Pentagon sending 700 Marines to L.A. now amid that unrest? I mean, obviously, if the National Guard takes orders from the federal government, obviously, they have a commander-in-chief who might be dealt with the governor who is doing them.
MANNER: Actually, the Marines and these activated National Guardsmen are going to be commanded by one commander that will report toward the -- to the Northern Command --
COATES: Uh-hmm.
MANNER: -- military command process. The concern is that they will -- they may not be well connected. And young Marines, no offense, the average age of the Marines is much younger than the National Guardsman, and they're much like -- more likely to follow exactly what they hear in terms of orders of which they received no training.
COATES: I see police now running right now. They appear to be running in an area. I do see some with some form of weapons. I'm not sure if these are lethal forest weapons or those trying to quell and unrest in a nonlethal manner. They are heading towards an area.
We have Jason Carroll. I want to go to Jason. Jason, what are you seeing? What's happening? Why are they running?
CARROLL: Yes, yes.
COATES: Jason, talk to me.
CARROLL: Well, right now, the officers are telling -- they're just saying move, move. They're -- it seems like they're trying to disperse this crowd.
[23:25:00]
COATES: Are they effective right now? I see them. People were running at one point in time. I do hear some sounds in the background and screaming. Are people -- are people following their orders and commands?
CARROLL: Well, again, Laura, right now, what we've been hearing is just the officer saying in -- in command, move, move. And what we've seen is -- let me try to give you some perspective. Get my cameraman to turn around. You can see the crowd has started to disperse. They are moving in the direction down the street, away from the officers.
You know, earlier, I mentioned that tipping point when, you know, perhaps we get to just get to the point where officers have said -- well, they just -- they just have had enough. And it seems like this is that point. They are trying at this point to disperse the crowd. The crowd had started to thin out much more than what we saw earlier this evening.
And so, perhaps, the officers here on the ground said this might be their opportunity to finally disperse those who were left. And that's what we're seeing. They're moving in a uniform line down the street. Now, they've just given the command to hold -- to hold their position, to hold the line.
But again, Laura, not that many people who are now left. I'll have my photographer try to show those who are left. You can see a sparse number of people here in the street at this point. Compared to what we saw even just an hour ago, even probably just about 30 minutes ago near the top of your show when we were talking, a lot less people who are out here. And officers continue to move.
Now, perhaps, what we'll see in the next 20 minutes or so, they'll -- they'll decide to move again in formation down another block to try to thin out even more of those who are left. Laura?
COATES: Jason Carroll, please stay there. Again, keep your eyes and ears open for us. General Randy Manner, Scott Shuchart, thank you both so much.
We have much more out of L.A. ahead. The protest escalating the rivalry between President Trump and Governor Newsom to a whole new level. The president even suggesting that Newsom should be arrested. Newsom's latest response is next.
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[23:30:00]
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COATES: Protests on the street of Los Angeles for the fourth night in a row. Law enforcement just moments ago pushing back protesters armed with rubber bullets and clothed in riot gear.
CNN's Michael Yoshida is live on the scene in L.A. Michael, describe what you're seeing right now.
UNKNOWN: Back off.
MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This way. Back off, back off, back off.
UNKNOWN: Got to stay behind.
COATES: Mike, can you see me? Can you hear me? We are waiting to get his sound right now. We are watching right now what appears to be law enforcement that is moving back an area. People behind the line. I see Michael Yoshida right now moving backwards. There are a crowd people. I hear sirens in the background as well.
There appears to be -- almost now nighttime in Los Angeles. We've been waiting to see what would happen once daylight was no longer there and going through it.
And, you know, Michael, we're going to come back to you. Just stand by for one moment. We're going to come back to you. We're watching the crowds in the area as the line of officers continues to move.
From coast to coast, protests are erupting in several major cities today in support of California labor leader David Huerta, president of the California chapter of the Service Employees International Union. Huerta was released today on a $50,000 bond and is being charged with felony conspiracy to impede an officer.
Looking now at the moment Huerta was arrested on Friday. You can see him being pinned to the ground by federal agents before being taken away in handcuffs. He allegedly sat down in front of a gate to block ICE agents from conducting a raid at an L.A. business. His union says that he was hospitalized after being injured during that arrest. Here's what Huerta said today after his release.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID HUERTA, PRESIDENT, SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION CALIFORNIA: Nothing will be resolved with violence. Violence begets violence. We need to be able to have -- our movement needs to be one of nonviolence. I don't know what they have in store for me.
I imagine, at this point in time, I am their project, and they're -- they're going to put me as their example of what happens. But I'm prepared to take on that journey. I'm prepared to face that.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: With you now is April Verrett, president of the Service Employees International Union. April, welcome. How is David doing following his hospitalization and release from custody?
APRIL VERRETT, PRESIDENT, SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION: David is glad to be home with his family, and he is more determined than ever to do what he has always done, and that is stand up for immigrants and stand up for working families.
COATES: Do you know how he was injured? Did they say the injury?
VERRETT: No. I did get a chance to spend some -- some time with Huerta after his release. But he seems physically fine. We didn't talk about the details. But what I can tell you is that he was, you know, assaulted, detained, and he did receive medical treatment.
COATES: He has been a fierce advocate for immigrants' rights throughout his entire career. He even built an immigrant integration program for your union member that he was honored for during the Obama administration. Can you tell us about what this issue of immigrants' rights really means to David?
[23:34:57]
VERRETT: David is an incredible champion for immigrants and immigrant rights, like you've spoken. But David is a champion for working people, period. And I think what he -- his leadership really exemplifies is bringing people together across all of the things that folks try to divide us by, whether that's our immigration status, our race, the language we speak, our gender, our age. He is a uniter, he is a fighter, and that is what you have seen him do for his entire career.
COATES: Will this arrest and, apparently, felony prospective charges, will that deter him in his mission?
VERRETT: You know, I think that's up for David and his lawyers to speak to. But I know that SEIU, our union, is not backing down. We are going to continue to advocate not just for people like Huerta, but for people like Rumeyza Ozturk and Lewelyn Dixon, our members who have been detained and released by ICE. We know their names. There are countless others who names that we don't know.
And so, we're going to continue to stand up for them and stand up for the millions of people in our communities who are being impacted by these attacks on immigrants that is just tearing our communities apart.
COATES: April Verrett, thank you for joining us this evening.
VERRETT: Thank you for having me.
COATES: We've got Michael Yoshida back with us. He's on the ground in Los Angeles, right outside of a line of law enforcement. Tell me what you're seeing.
YOSHIDA: Hey, Laura. Good to be with you. Yeah, we're right on the other side of where you heard Jason earlier. We're with those LAPD, law enforcement, as they're working to move these protesters further away from that facility. We'll step out of the way. You can see all of the law enforcement has now filled the street. Again, working to push those protests we saw throughout the day away from that detention facility.
We're probably about a half mile away at this point. Again, this is something we've been seeing, them forming these lines, giving those dispersal orders, and then slowly starting to push their way through.
At times, we have seen those confrontations between some of the protesters as well as law enforcement. We've seen and heard those flash bangs, seen those rubber bullets fired into the crowds.
At this point, you can see, if you can see our shot right now, that it is relatively calm at this point. They had just pushed what remains of this group further down, away from that facility. It seems they're now in a holding pattern. Again, this is something we've seen play out over the last few hours here. Again, we're now into night four of the protests here in Los Angeles.
COATES: Can you tell me some of the interactions you have seen between law enforcement and the protesters as they've tried to disperse the crowd?
YOSHIDA: Yeah. Really, it's -- it has been a changing mood, if you will, throughout the day. Early on, as we're outside that facility, we saw the protest going on. We would see some law enforcement vehicles make their way in, and that's where we saw little skirmishes at points. Some people throwing bottles, some people trying to kick and hit those vehicles. But at the same time, we did see some others come up and try and tell them to knock it off, to push it away. Now, as we've moved into the later hours here, as we've seen some of the main group, it appears -- that was here earlier -- dispersed. Some of the interactions, as you can imagine, as you've probably seen from some of the video, have gotten a little bit more tense. Again, we're later into the day and later into the night. It has probably been a long day for those on both sides.
As we're seeing maybe some of the tensions start to rise here again, you can see these officers here. It sounds like they're starting to shout some more orders here as they're trying to again, looks like, prepare to further push this crowd further down the street. I'm sure you can probably see some of the lighting around here. We have law enforcement at pretty much every intersection here.
So, obviously, a lot happening at this point. We're going to keep an eye on that as the night goes on.
COATES: I just saw law enforcement move closer to you just now. What are they saying to you? To move locations? Are you expecting to have people move back more?
YOSHIDA: Yeah, it has been a give and take throughout the evening. A lot of us trying to be right up there and see what's happening, report on what's happening, and getting pushed back. At this point, you can see we're right up against it.
So, at this point, like I said, we're signed up in a holding pattern. We're hoping to get further up at some point as the night goes on. But, again, you can see the law enforcement, the LAPD officers here, their various states of tactical gear, the helmets, the batons, really just standing by. The protesters, what's left of them, just on the other side of this intersection.
I'm not sure if you might be able to see some of the flags in the distance there as we're seeing more officers, looks like, walking up, starting to make their way into the intersection, potentially preparing, obviously, to -- to make their next move.
COATES: Michael Yoshida, thank you so much. Stand by for us, please, because still ahead tonight, President Trump and Governor Gavin Newsom squaring off as unrest spreads in Los Angeles. The political fight, next.
[23:40:00]
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COATES: Back with our breaking news. Night four of protests in Los Angeles. CNN Jason Carroll is live on the ground in Downtown L.A. with an update. Jason, what did you hear cops say just now?
CARROLL: Well, just a few moments ago, we heard an announcement over a speakerphone, which basically said anyone here now is going to be under arrest for failure to disperse.
[23:45:00] And I don't know if you can make it out, Laura, but basically, what the officers have done at this point is they boxed in the few remaining protesters who are out here. There is some press mixed in that group as well there. I'd say there's probably about two dozen, I would estimate, protesters who are still left out here with us. Again, some press mixed in here as well.
But on this side of me, if you come around, you can see there are a number of officers lined up on this side. They're on the far side, and they're on the side over here. So, for all intents and purposes, they have boxed in the last few remaining protesters who were out here.
And just before we came to air, just a few moments ago, we saw some of the protesters, who are off in that direction, outside of this boxed- in zone, will continue to throw out some of those fireworks.
And earlier, as you know well know, Laura, those fireworks, whenever they're thrown at the officers, that has been somewhat of a trigger, which has forced them to tighten ranks and move in closer to the protesters to get them to disperse.
And so, we're now, again, waiting to see what the next move will be. But the last thing we just heard, just a few moments ago, is that everyone here now is going to be under arrest for failing -- for failing to disperse. We are now waiting to see what the officers intend to do next. Right now, a lot of folks here are just waiting, mixed in here, again, with some members of the press, to see what their next move will be. Laura?
COATES: Some sort of game of chicken. Are they going to try to call their bluff? Have they -- have they responded to that warning by officers?
CARROLL: Well, there's really nothing they can do at this point. They're not allowing any of these demonstrators to leave outside of this boxed-in zone. They're just sort of sitting here and now waiting. So, anyone who now wants to leave cannot leave.
Case in point, I've seen some of these demonstrators here say, okay, I want -- I want -- I want out, I want to leave now, but the officers are not allowing them to do that, at least not at this point.
So, again, the announcement went out, everyone who is now here in this boxed- in area will be under arrest for failure to disperse, and that was met with some fireworks again being thrown at some of the officers from some of the demonstrators who are outside of this boxed-in zone.
COATES: Jason Carroll, really important reporting. Thank you. Keep us posted, please.
Joining me now to discuss the politics of all this, CNN political analyst and White House correspondent for "The New York Times," Zolan Kanno-Youngs, CNN political commentator and former senior adviser to Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, Karen Finney, and CNN political commentator and Republican
strategist Shermichael Singleton. Well, first of all, I got to say, I'm -- the fact that they're being told that they will be arrested if they don't leave, but now you cannot leave, I wonder about that particular warning. But tell me, what is the impact of the president's politics here? I mean, it seems as though this was an opportunity, and he has certainly used it.
ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES: Yeah. In many ways, this is a fight to sort of showdown, that has been a long time coming, and that the president has wanted for some time now.
Go back to 2020. President Trump actually did want -- he wanted to -- to deploy troops to Washington, D.C. when there were protests.
COATES: Uh-hmm.
KANNO-YOUNGS: Black Lives Matter protests.
COATES: And what happened? Why couldn't he?
KANNO-YOUNGS: He didn't because, in many ways, one of the main differences between Trump 1 and Trump 2, there were people around him that talked him out of that option. Instead, he deployed alphabet soup of federal agencies as well.
COATES: Uh-hmm.
KANNO-YOUNGS: In many ways, a deployment that also stoked tensions. This time around, though, there's -- there's -- you don't have those career officials. You don't have some of those people that are willing to honestly express dissent in most cases. You have many loyalists around the president that are focused on implementing his agenda.
During the -- during the campaign, those around the president made clear that they believed in the executive branch and believed that the president would have authority to do many of the things that we're seeing today without regard for checks and balances that are a foundation of this government.
But going back to a point that you said before about the police there as well and not letting people out, it seems, based off that reporting, you know, this is something that has been a concern going back to 2020 and now here as well, where when you deploy federal agents, when you deploy troops, are you actually deterring some of the crime that the president has alleged he's trying to deter or are you stoking tensions and actually exacerbating the issue at hand here and elongating these protests?
KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But in this instance, politically and particularly looking at these images tonight -- I mean, you live in L.A. I mean, this is a very small area. It's maybe 30 people. It looks like majority police and media. I think Americans may look at that and say, wait, why are we sending Marines in? Why are we sending the National Guard?
And what it reminds you is that this is an administration -- this is about chaos. This is an administration that has said -- as you said, the president has wanted to do this for a long time.
[23:50:02]
But it has felt as though he has been waiting for the moment to almost create the fire. I mean, he basically escalated this situation. LAPD, they're tough, let me tell you. And clearly, they have the matter under control. And at one point, earlier today, there were some concerns the LAPD had.
What if you have police officers caught between national -- you know, the National Guard and the Marines, and you're still trying to also keep some people safe, who are trying to just be there with their First Amendment right and peacefully protesting?
I think one of the challenges the president will have on this is, at the end of this week, we're going to see this military parade here in Washington with these hundreds, supposedly, you know, of tanks and what have you.
I don't think Americans are going to feel comforted by that. I think what they're seeing here, and we've seen in communities across the country, where people are saying, wait a second, I thought you were going to go after the violent criminals.
Instead, you're going after the waitress in my local diner, a young man in Massachusetts who was a junior in high school, his whole community rallied to get him out, a four-year-old girl who is in this country in Northern California to have lifesaving surgery. She was permitted to come here. They're trying to deport her.
So, my point is the facts on the ground are not matching what he told people he was going to do. And we had a CBS News poll over the weekend that showed many Americans may agree with the goal. They disagree -- it's about the third poll we've seen around this. They don't like the way he's doing it.
COATES: Well, is this tactic likely to backfire for those who agree with his policy? Because we did see cars burning on the street.
UNKNOWN: Uh-hmm.
COATES: We did see people who -- whether they are part of a right -- a righteous protest or had ill will for other reasons and were hijacking a protest instead, we are seeing that there was a need for law enforcement. Is that part of the calculation for Trump?
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: That's going to happen. And -- and clearly, that visual benefits the executive --
COATES: I think we're seeing one person who is -- people who are right now with zip ties. They've obviously been arrested. The officers carrying around zip ties. We're seeing more than one person. A woman who's standing by a van. Another person who's just been led off and escorted. There does not appear to be the resisting of these arrests or -- or zip ties, but they do have them out there. Go ahead, Shermichael.
SINGLETON: Yes. So, people are burning cars. Visually, that benefits the president. I don't think many Americans would like those optics for the most part.
That aside, I mean, to Karen's point, the polling does showcase most Americans agree we have to address illegal immigration as a problem. The tactics become a question.
I would probably do this a little different, if I -- if I'm being honest with you. Looking at California, I would say, look, California, you have to reckon with the governance of your failed policies. Gavin Newsom just announced in March that California has a $12 billion deficit, in part because of an increase in spending on social services, in part because of the influx of illegal immigrants.
We've seen the strain -- the strain rather on classrooms. We've seen the strain on police forces being stretched too far. Again, this is all because of the policies of the state of California. One point four million citizens of California have moved to other states: Tennessee, Texas, Florida, Republican states, I might add.
And so, I think there is an opportunity for Republicans, particularly with midterms coming up, to make the case, particularly in some of those purple districts.
If you don't want your city, your state looking like California where you have deficits, where their classrooms are too big, where police aren't able to really do the jobs, where social safety nets where we already typically don't have enough money to cover citizens are being stretched even further to now cover illegal immigrants, if you don't want that, then you absolutely must vote Republican. That would be my strategy here. I think it would be very effective.
KANNO-YOUNGS: You know --
COATES: Go ahead.
KANNO-YOUNGS: -- part of the actually reason -- one factor in how we got to this point is actually the pressure and the concern within the administration about make -- making good on some of those goals, those goals on immigration.
COATES: Well, they're adding to their arrest numbers right now. They've been talking about arrests. At least five people. That's nowhere near the numbers that they promised, clearly. And I don't know who they're arresting if they are, in fact, people who do not have citizenship or otherwise, which was their promise.
KANNO-YOUNGS: In the weeks leading up to this, Stephen Miller was, you know, calling ICE officials, bringing in together ICE leadership, and -- and really, you know, pressing them as well on making good on this goal of millions of deportations, including a million this year, which, you know, ICE officials that I'm speaking to, people close to these operations, say that that's untenable at times. In fact, there are agents that are -- that have been redirected from their ongoing criminal investigations to routine deportations, that, you know, are also feeling stretched thin and, like, they're being pulled away from their -- from their normal duties as well. So --
COATES: Well, like members of the military. The Marines right now are there.
[23:54:58]
I wonder how that's going to play optically for Americans who obviously value our esteemed members of Armed Forces, who are watching them be taken now and put in these situations. Is that impacted?
FINNEY: Absolutely. It's going to look like overkill, it's going to look like chaos, and it's going to look like a president who is yet again potentially circumventing the laws and the norms of our country. That's why I think it's so important that the governor filed a lawsuit, because let's press -- he wants to press the question. Let's press the question.
COATES: Well, we'll see what the -- what the answer will be. Obviously, the priority will be to try to figure out how to stop what's happening right now in the streets. Everyone, please stand by. Thank you so much.
Next, we're going to go back to our reporters who are on the ground in L.A. as police make arrests now of remaining protesters. Much more of our breaking news coverage in just a moment.
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