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Laura Coates Live

Tensions Flare Between Police, Protesters as L.A. Unrest Spreads. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired June 10, 2025 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:33]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. I'm Laura Coates, and it's midnight on the East Coast, 9:00 p.m. on the West Coast, where protests over immigration raids continue for a fourth straight evening in L.A. And moments ago, police announced that the protesters who were still on the street will be under arrest.

Within the last hour, we have seen police advance on demonstrators to push them back and end this standoff. At times, officers have fired flash bangs and fired rubber bullets after protesters threw bottles and shot fireworks towards the officers.

You can see some of the explosions that happened just a few moments ago.

I want to go right back to CNN's Jason Carroll, who is live on the ground in downtown L.A.

Jason, police warned of arrest a few moments ago. Has that happened?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's happening right now as we speak, Laura. If we can zoom in right now, you can see one by one. These demonstrators are walking up to the officers, turning around. They are being handcuffed with these zip ties and they are being led away.

We knew this was going to happen as soon as this white bus that you see here pulled up. This detention bus pulled up. Obviously, that's going to be used to take some of these protesters away. We've also noticed that some of the demonstrators are out here, started to write a jail support number on their arms. So once they are in custody, they have a number to call.

But again, the police that were out here made the announcement. They said that anyone who was left here was going to be detained for failure to disperse. And then what happened after that, you know, they boxed in literally. You can see officers right here on all sides, on this side here, over here, on this side here. Some of the demonstrators backed up in this corner over here that you see here, Laura. And some of the demonstrators at that point tried to leave. And the

LAPD said, no, that time has come and that time has gone. Not only are they not allowing the demonstrators to leave, they're not allowing press to leave either, Laura. We are all boxed in this area together. They are telling everyone here that they are going to be detained for failure to disperse.

So this is the end to what has been a very long day, a very long night of back and forth with some of these officers. I said even just a few hours ago, there was going to be a tipping point where officers were not going to do this back and forth with demonstrators who were out here. You know, at one point demonstrators would come up to these officers, shout obscenities. The officers would hold their line, use a great deal of restraint, and then all of a sudden someone would throw in some sort of a firework.

The officers would move in with the rubber bullets, with the flash bangs, and try to do what they can to disperse the crowd away from the federal center, which is now several blocks away from where we are now. And each time they moved in, the crowd started to disperse a little bit more, a little bit more. And now we are where we are at this hour tonight, with just a couple dozen left and the arrests being made as we speak -- Laura.

COATES: Are you suggesting, Jason, that they're not allowing press to leave? Is there a threat of detainment for you all as well?

CARROLL: The short answer is yes. But, you know, I think maybe we'll be able to work it out with the officers in due time. But we're just sort of taking this step by step. You know, we did at one point ask the officers if we could get on the other side simply because I thought it was a better shot. And we were told, no, we needed to stay right where we were. And so we're going to negotiate that in the next few minutes or so.

But, again, at this point, they are arresting the demonstrators who are out here, some of them voluntarily walking up to the line, turning around, putting their hands behind their backs. They're using those white zip ties to walk them away and put them in the detention, the white detention bus that you see there.

So we're going to see how this situation develops. But again, so far as you can see from one of the one of the demonstrators being led away, this is what we've been seeing one by one. Again, the demonstrators at this point voluntarily walking up, turning around, putting their hands behind their backs, being led away as they're being detained. So we're going to see what happens again as this situation develops. But right now they're being arrested, as promised.

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COATES: Can you estimate about how many people or protesters that are still in the area that the officers have boxed in? Are we talking about a couple dozen? Are we talking about much more?

CARROLL: A couple dozen where we are right now, which is the only thing that I can speak to. There may be other groups over there. Again, we see some people throwing fireworks over in an area outside this boxed, boxed-in zone where we are. And I think you heard even Erin Burnett in earlier coverage talking about this tonight. That's how we've sort of been, sort of boxed in with a group of demonstrators as we've been moving from one block to another block to another block.

And so at this point, again, as the officers moved in block by block, the crowd started to disperse on its own. So now we're left to, again, just a couple dozen protesters who are left. We've seen several, another one happening right now. We've seen several being detained, being arrested just within the past few minutes. And I think that's what we're going to see until no one is left. Again, we're going to have to see what happens with the media that's left out here. We've asked the officers if we're allowed to go outside the zone. We were told with no uncertainty. We were told simply you need to stay where you are.

COATES: Jason Carroll, stand by. We're going to rely on your coverage here.

I want to bring in CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller, along with retired NYPD detective, Sergeant Felipe Rodriguez.

Felipe, let me ask you first of all about the tactic the police are using. When they had moved the line periodically towards those who were left and then boxing them in, telling them they have to be dispersed or they'd be arrested, and now they're being arrested.

Do you understand this tactic they've used? Is it the right one?

FELIPE RODRIGUEZ, RETIRED NYPD DETECTIVE: No, it is correct. I mean, they used a great deal of restraint. We saw that there was a lot of times that people, you know, people don't realize, we have professional agitators out there. And what they want to do is they want to see police do the incorrect thing, you know, to bring about lawsuits or just, you know, incite further riots or further violence.

At this point, they herded out the hardcore individuals, the ones that wanted to be there. And at the end, guess what? We go in as a team, you know, with arrest teams, we're using flex cuffs and we control the situation. And now we assign arresting officers and, you know, start processing the arrests.

COATES: John, Trump is deploying 2,000 more National Guard members to L.A. Does law enforcement really need those additional resources, do you think?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, they say they don't. You know, Jimmy McDonnell, who is probably the most experienced lawman in Southern California. You remember he was a chief, a deputy chief in the LAPD. He was the chief of the Long Beach Police. He was the elected sheriff of Los Angeles County. And then he returned as chief of the LAPD.

So there's nothing about this business that is new to him. And he said the LAPD and its county partners in Southern California could handle the situation on the ground, including protecting the federal building.

What this is appearing to be is a flex on the part of the Trump administration in Washington saying, we're going to ramp up these operations and we're going to do our own force protection of these federal buildings and federal agents. But having the military in the middle of this, even the National Guard, has actually maybe had the opposite effect of becoming a lightning rod to make the protests bigger.

COATES: Felipe, I'd love to hear your take on that as well. I mean, the infusion of the National Guard or military, does that help or hurt the ability of law enforcement on the ground in a very volatile situation to get it under control?

RODRIGUEZ: See, the infusion could bring about basically a lot of confusion. These officers of LAPD, they know how to do this job. They've been in numerous situations where they had to control, you know, right like situations. Unless you have a strong unified command, and now we're talking to the point that we've stretched out all our resources. We really shouldn't be implementing the federal, you know, side of kind of law enforcement with the National Guard.

COATES: And, John, of course, we're seeing what's happening in L.A. We're seeing things happening other places as well, because these confrontations between protests and immigration agents, they've been happening for literally weeks now. But now it's escalated even further. And there have been new demonstrations at federal buildings as well across the country. What are your sources telling you about the situation across the country right now?

MILLER: Well, what you're seeing is rolling protests, right, from L.A. to Dallas. There was one in New York with a small number of arrests at the federal building this afternoon, too. But you know, the question is, how does something get big and how are these done today? You know, the protests are organized by social media channels where they say, here's where to be, when to be there, and spread this across your social media channels so they can develop a crowd.

[00:10:11]

But in the background of this, we've also seen social media messages and fliers and posters saying --

CARROLL: CNN.

MILLER: -- it's time to escalate. It's time to -- no, go ahead. Go ahead.

COATES: Wait, one second, John. Hold on. I want to -- Jason, what's going on? I hear you. Am I seeing Jason Carroll being -- what happened, Jason?

CARROLL: I am being detained. I am being detained, Laura. I'm not being arrested. Correct, officers? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you hear what he told you?

CARROLL: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're letting you go. But you can't come back.

CARROLL: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't come back, then you go. We're good right here.

CARROLL: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, please?

CARROLL: OK. Thank you very much. Thank you, thank you, Officer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take care. You too. Nice to meet you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

CARROLL: OK. Thank you.

COATES: What happened, Jason?

CARROLL: If you guys can still hear me, what happened was, I was -- yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Chris with "The New York Times." We got video of you guys. If you need it later just call the "New York Times."

CARROLL: Thank you. I appreciate that.

COATES: I can hear you still, Jason. What's happening?

CARROLL: So here's what happened, Laura. We, the officer, I was called over, and the officer told me to put my hands behind my back. I said, am I being arrested? He said, you were being detained. I was walked out of the area. They took down my information.

COATES: Oh, I'm losing his IFB right now. I can't hear you, Jason.

John Miller, I'm just hearing from Jason Carroll just now. We had video just now of watching him with his hands behind his back. He was escorted by his elbows by looks like one to two officers. He's walking out of the boxed in area. He was told, he's being detained and you could hear on camera the officer saying something to the effect of he had to leave the area and could not come back. And if he did, I believe they said that he would in fact be detained.

Describe what you take from that.

MILLER: So what they've done is they have given the 409 PC California warning to everybody there. Demonstrators first. If you remain here, you're subject to arrest. Now they're sorting through people who are left, who are not protesters. And in Jason's case, he identified himself. I'm Jason Carroll with CNN. Am I being detained? He said, yes, but I think what the officer means is you're being detained for the purposes of you can't walk away from me back into the crowd. I'm going to walk you out of the perimeter. And then you will not be under arrest. But what they're trying to do is clear that box.

Here's the rub. One of the things that's gotten harder in these demonstrations is you have anarchist groups and agitators who show up and say, well, I have a blog, so therefore I'm press. So therefore, even though I've been throwing bottles and screaming epithets, I'm not part of the protest. I want to be treated as media. So they sort through people one at a time. You know, it was probably less than pleasant for Jason, but at the end of the day, he kept his cool. They were polite, he was polite, and we're past that now.

COATES: Felipe, John makes an excellent point about the idea of those who might suggest that they are media in order to exercise a First Amendment basis and freedom of the press to remain in an area that would otherwise be excluded from. How much is this impacting the ability of law enforcement as they're trying to comb through who are the protesters and who are agitators and who needs to stay in the area?

RODRIGUEZ: It does become difficult. You see it more and more every day. Everybody swears that, you know, I have a TikTok channel or whatever. I'm an influencer, and they actually feel that they're legitimate press when they're not. You know, they're basically voicing their opinion. So the officers do have to go through it and actually properly identify an individual before they let them go.

The key thing is, you know what? We have to control that box. We have to make sure that those that need to be arrested are charged properly, and those that are actually the press are then let go. But it is a legitimate process what they're doing.

COATES: Well, John, why weren't people if they were warned that they could be arrested and they were boxed in, so now they can't leave? Is that normal to hear that they're not able to?

MILLER: Well, it is because they --

COATES: Oh, wait.

MILLER: Go ahead.

COATES: Am I -- I don't hear. I'm sorry. Go ahead, John, go ahead. I'm watching it unfold as we're talking. And I'm hearing Jason. I'm seeing Jason, but I'm not quite clear. I hear you, John. Go ahead.

MILLER: Right. And if you see what's happening on the right hand side of the screen, you know, you see the fireworks going off, it means that they had dwindled this crowd down from the core group of protesters to the secondary protesters to, you know, the last of the diehards who were the people who were taking them on and had been warned. At each stop along the way, you know that this is an unlawful assembly and you have to disperse so many times that at this point they're saying, OK, the game is over. [00:15:01]

We have warned you now for several miles outside of the courthouse to disperse, and you're still here. So you're now all in custody, and we're just going to sort through you one at a time. It's an interesting decision because you have two choices there. One is they're only there because you're still there, the police, and you are the two objects of each other's obsession. Sometimes the police make the decision, we're going to pack up and go, and then these people have nothing left to protest because they're far away from the target they started at.

The other is, we've had enough. They've had enough warnings, and we're going to see them back tomorrow. So we're going to charge them.

COATES: Jason Carroll, I've got you on the line. Jason, what's happening right now? Where are you?

CARROLL: Well, I'm outside the perimeter, Laura. Again, I think you heard John Miller explain, and I think he explained it, explained it best. You know, as I was walking over to the officer, tried to explain what, you know, who I was, identified who I was with, I turned, he said, I'd like you to turn around. I turned around, I put my -- I had my hands behind my back. They did not put me in zip ties, but they did grab both of my hands as I was escorted over to the side.

They said, you are being detained. While we lead you out of this area, you are not allowed to be in this area. So they took me over to the side. They took down my name. They asked me where I was from. You know, they get your basic information and I said, am I being arrested? He said, no, you're not being arrested. You're being detained. And so there's that. You know, as press, you know, these are some of the things that you, you know, you take a lot of risks as press.

This is low on that sort of scale of risks. But it is something that I wasn't expecting simply because we've been out here all day. I've covered any number of protests, and normally there's, you know, the, you know, the officers, you put the press, realize that the press is there doing a job, so to speak.

And -- but again, this is what happened. It did not last long. Felt a lot, a little longer than what it was. But there you have it. But we are now outside the perimeter, and the protest, at least at this point, is being concluded, getting back to the reason why we're here, and reporting on why we were here. They're making a number of arrests of those demonstrators who were left about a couple of dozen or so.

They had put out the announcement that anyone who was still here would be put under arrest for failure to disperse. And so at that point, that's when they took those demonstrators into custody after they had sort of boxed them in. But at one point we did ask, hey, can we get outside this perimeter so we can get a better shot? We were denied and told that we were not allowed to leave. And so at that point, as I told you before it happened, we would sort of play it by ear. And that's how it went down.

COATES: Jason Carroll, please stand by. Thank you, John, Felipe as well. I appreciate it.

I want to bring back our panel. We've got Karen Finney and Shermichael Singleton, and joining us at the table, Shan Wu, former federal prosecutor and defense attorney as well.

I have to tell you that maybe remember when our colleague back during the George Floyd-Derek Chauvin protests in Minneapolis was in fact detained and taken away, and the idea of the rub of the police trying to do their job and the press trying to do their job as well, to be the eyes and ears.

Let me begin with you here, Shan, because one big question people might have is, well, hold on, I thought the press are able to essentially be anywhere the story is. It is lawful or not for the police to remove even media from an area that they have tried to shut down.

SHAN WU, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It's basically a lawful thing to do. They're giving notice to them. If this was more of a long term situation, the press might bring a lawsuit, denial of access to the area, but in that situation it seems fine. I'm not familiar with the particular California provision that John was citing to. But I mean, under a normal Fourth Amendment analysis, I'm not sure what the cause was for detaining. Really, they're just escorting him out of the area.

COATES: Let's talk about the law. That's really talking about lawsuits here. Governor Gavin Newsom, as you well know, has brought a lawsuit. Now, obviously, the priority immediately is going to be dealing with what's happening right now in the streets and trying to quell that. But the idea that there is a lawsuit right now from the governor because of the president's decision to introduce non-law enforcement and instead military National Guard, what is your take on that viability?

WU: Well, it's a very strong lawsuit because what the president's administration has done is they, contrary to his sort of garbled invective sometimes, he's not actually invoking the Insurrection Act. They're trying to proceed under 10 U.S.C. 12 406, which has very specific conditions for when you can federalize the National Guard, which is what he's done.

[00:20:11]

Those conditions are, you have to have an invasion, rebellion, or the president can't carry out the regular functions. For example, Nixon invoked this provision when there was a mail carrier strike, couldn't deliver the mail. Certainly on its face, none of that seems to have been met here. I mean, judging from what we just saw, it's pretty orderly. Law enforcement is controlling it.

COATES: But the president would argue, I'm sure, that the federal function was trying to exercise ICE's own rules.

WU: Right. That's exactly what they're arguing. So I think, though, when the evidence is played out and they're going to seek an injunction against the president's order here, I think it's looking pretty good. The governor of California has also argued that this is a violation of the 10th Amendment, the state sovereignty aspect. So you've got those two pieces there in the mix up.

COATES: In a way, Trump and Newsom have readied themselves for fighting one another. And this is probably the cherry on top.

Sure. But, you know, I'm old enough to remember when Republicans were for state's rights and they, you know, actually believed that the states should, you know, that they have their own rights. And we shouldn't be, you know, telling them what to do. Also corporations, but apparently are private institutions. That's not Trump's America.

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No. Look, I think this is an interesting moment for Gavin Newsom. We all know he intends to run for president in 2028.

COATES: Does this hurt his chances?

FINNEY: No, I think not. I mean, particularly given, I mean, let's just say, God willing, it stays, you know, peaceful. And we don't see any harm come to anyone, any more harm, I think, you know, he was able to -- he's standing up to the president, which I think was the right thing to do, particularly because it's a reminder that this president keeps running afoul of the law. He keeps trying to push that limit.

And he's lost quite frequently in court. So that will be interesting to see how it plays out, particularly given that they were going after day laborers at Home Depot. These weren't -- this wasn't exactly an invasion across the border. But certainly I think, you know, so from Newsom's perspective, if he looks strong, which I think he does in this moment, and certainly the LAPD was able to contain and handle the situation, I think that actually looks good, both for the governor, for the Los Angeles Police Department, for the governing bodies of L.A. County.

COATES: Do you agree?

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think there's a clear political distinction to be made to the American people. I mean, Trump said he likes Gavin Newsom, but his politics are pretty bad. I would agree with that. I mean, Karen clearly is the expert on Democratic politics. I would follow her lead. But I think if you're making the argument to the American people, not just looking at this, but California in general, an influx of people, migrants illegally entering the state, a lot of Americans have left the state.

A lot of businesses have left the state. Tesla, Chevron, Oracle, a number of others are fleeing California because they're not happy about the politics in general. Taxes, crime, immigration.

FINNEY: No, it's a whole host of -- in fairness, it's a whole host of issues going on in California, not just the politics, so to speak.

SINGLETON: Well, but I'm listing them, Karen.

FINNEY: You said the politics. SINGLETON: I'm listing them. So it's a litany of things in California

that I think Republicans can point to, to draw a clear distinction to say, do you want this type of governance? I think most Americans would probably say no. I would be surprised if Democrats were to rally behind someone like a Newsom when compared to someone like a Pritzker. I think there's two dichotomies here where you can draw a clear contrast if you're Democrats to say, well, this guy may not be able to make a strong case to middle America

Someone like a Pritzker may be able to. If we choose Newsom, we're literally giving Republicans the opportunity to look at every negative thing they dislike about California, make that case to the American people and make 2028 look really difficult.

COATES: What do you think? Pritzker versus Newsom, if that's the conversation.

FINNEY: Again, I think a lot is going to depend on where we are in two more years. I mean, what are people going to want after two more years of this? I don't know, seeing chaos in the streets, seeing our economy being tanked by this crazy tariff up and down of the economy, seeing -- utilizing American service members on American streets against American citizens. Let's see where we are in a couple of years.

COATES: You know, on that point, I mean, obviously, there are laws in this country where we do not want to have the military be used on domestic soil. This, the reality, though, is that there is a lot of untested areas of the law because it hasn't been tried in the same degree for a variety of reasons. The Insurrection Act is one example of an exception. But when you look at the legal issues at play here, whether it's the president being able to invoke the Insurrection Act or not, what is your take in terms of how these lawsuits might proceed? This certainly is not going to be the end of it.

WU: It's not. And whichever way the injunction comes out, it'll continue to be appealed. And I think the Trump administration is probably hoping it gets to the Supreme Court, as usual, on its emergency shadow docket.

[00:25:03]

COATES: Because they'll want to talk about national security, which is a deferential area for them.

WU: Right. Yes, exactly. Which they're trying to sort of shoehorn everything underneath that here. And I think, you know, some commentators have suggested that this specific invocation of the statute versus jumping right to Insurrection Act is kind of like a testing the waters. It's a warm-up, and there's a double meaning to it, which is they can say if the protests got worse, they could say, hey, we tried this more modest measure and it didn't work. So now this gives us more basis to move to the Insurrection Act.

So there's no question they're looking towards that. Again, I don't know if the president understands these distinctions, but the brain trust behind them does. And you can see the strategy, the tactics in what they're doing.

COATES: Quite the strategy at play as we watch it unfold in L.A. and also places like Dallas and beyond.

Thank you so much, everyone, for your insight.

Still ahead, President Trump sending Marines and even more National Guard troops to L.A. Is the city prepared for that kind of troop presence? Insight from our military experts next.

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COATES: You're looking at live pictures from Los Angeles right now as we continue to monitor the standoff between law enforcement and protesters.

[00:30:25]

With me now, former chief of homeland security and intelligence for Washington, D.C., Donell Harvin. Also, CNN military analyst and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Let me first begin with you, Donell, because Mayor Bass of Los Angeles is reiterating tonight they do not need the National Guard. But of course, that's falling on deaf ears for President Trump, who's already saying that he would like that to, in fact, happen.

So, how do they proceed at the state level if they've got that infusion of the National Guards?

DONELL HARVIN, FORMER CHIEF OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND INTELLIGENCE FOR WASHINGTON, D.C.: Well, it's chaos. And I'm having PTSD, because I lived through this in 2020. The mayor here in D.C. did not request the National Guard to be mobilized during the George Floyd protest. And then President Trump decided to unilaterally deploy not only federal troops but National Guard.

COATES: And the district, though, had less of a sort of standing, because they are a district as opposed to the state of California.

HARVIN: Had really no say in it. So, it was almost semi-martial law. If you were -- if you remember then.

There's a very robust and defined process -- process for requesting federal aid and mutual aid from other states and counties. And this entire process has just been blown up on top of its head.

I've spoken with officials over there in L.A. They really don't need that. This is a very confined and small area. Remember, L.A. is 470 square miles. And so, this is a very minute, minute part of L.A. But it's really being -- I think it's being blown out of proportion in terms of the threat.

COATES: Colonel Leighton, I wonder how you see it, because you're talking about the president wanting to deploy an additional, 2,000 members of the National Guard, on top of the existing 2,000, and then 700 Marines being mobilized.

Marines are not on domestic soil. They are for foreign operations and beyond. Is this the appropriate response and the use of our military?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: No, it's not. And you know, Donell's absolutely right. When you look at all the different aspects of a -- you know, of a riot like this or the types of, you know, disturbances that domestic law enforcement deals with, the military can deal with these things. They can -- they are partially trained. Especially Marines and some military police units are trained in some of this.

But they're not trained to the level of the local police forces like the LAPD or the NYPD or any of those.

COATES: Trained in what?

LEIGHTON: Riot control, crowd control. Now, they do have some experience with it, because, you know, when you look at what Marines had to do in places like Fallujah, that was a type of crowd control in some of those areas.

You know, you go to the Green Zone in Baghdad during the Iraq War, there were instances where you had to do, basically, crowd control, but that's a by exception kind of thing. And that's permitted because it's on foreign soil, and it's part of combat operations.

This is not combat operations. No matter what they tell you, you know, on the political side, this is not an invasion. There is nothing like that that fits that definition of what would be required to actually have a true Insurrection Act implementation.

But what they're trying to get at is actually get to something like an Insurrection Act implementation. And that would really, I think, be a very difficult and dangerous period for American democracy.

COATES: They're trying to get to -- I mean, this was a test run, and this is, in effect, effective or insufficient, a response based on what might happen. They would then escalate it?

LEIGHTON: Yes, I think that's very possible. And what you're seeing is, you know, like I think Donell alluded to earlier, when you look at the way in which this is, you know, really based on television pictures.

So, you know, they see one little thing: they see cars burning. That may happen, you know, within one small square, you know, foot area of, you know, of a particular city when everything else is fairly -- fairly calm. But you get that one image, and you think there's total chaos.

And they're -- they're using that for the purposes of, you know, perhaps going as far as invoking the Insurrection Act or doing something like that. Now, that's very dangerous territory, if we go there. COATES: So, you've got the National Guard. You've got Marines. You've

got local LAPD. Who's in control, and who has to essentially be subordinate to the other?

HARVIN: Well, it all depends on how you act. So, how it's supposed to happen is that the state and locals are in control. There's a unified command which is staffed by officers, high-ranking officers from all these agencies.

When these forces, these uniformed forces, go in under a Title 10 mission, or Title 32 mission, they're in defense and support of civilian authorities. So, we call it a dis-commission (ph), which means --

COATES: Title 10, meaning the president believes that his federal law cannot be going into effect unless he were to intervene with his military.

[00:35:04]

HARVIN: That's what -- that's when the Pentagon activates National Guardsmen to do some type of mission. And this is what we call a dis- commission (ph), which is defense in support of civilian authorities, which means they -- they don't report to directly, but they go to the chain of command of the civilian authorities. And that's usually through what we call a unified command, where you would have, ostensibly, the police chief or an area commander there, some high- ranking police official.

They show up. They said, this is -- these are our resources. This is where we're at. They exchange radios, frequencies. They do this interoperability. They assign locations. They co-locate with individuals. And we see this all the time with search-and-rescue.

I don't know if that's happened.

COATES: They have the same power, then? So, are they synonymous at that point? I think they have limited powers. Right?

HARVIN: They have limited power.

LEIGHTON: For example, they can't -- can't really arrest people. You know, that's -- that's one of the issues here, because the Marines, you know, when they're deployed to L.A., they can't serve as policemen in the same sense that an LAPD officer can. They don't have that kind of jurisdiction.

Military police do have some jurisdiction over military members, but they don't have that kind of -- except by exception. They cannot do that kind of thing with civilians.

COATES: Thank you both for your expertise, and valuable as this continues to unfold. Donell, Colonel, thank you so much.

It's just after 12:30 here on the East Coast, 9:30 in L.A. And the night still very much active as police continue to arrest protesters. A live update from the ground ahead.

Plus, the issue that started this in the first place: Trump's immigration raids. An L.A. city official standing by on the impact it's having on the community. That's next.

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[00:40:51]

COATES: Live pictures out of L.A., where police in riot gear continue to push back protesters. We've been seeing people in the crowd setting off fireworks as police approached them.

I want to get back to CNN's Michael Yoshida on the ground in L.A. Michael, what are you seeing?

MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Laura, good to be back with you.

It appears we've reached the end of the road, at least for most of tonight's activities, as we're here in downtown L.A. You can see still a heavy police presence, but across the street, that's where we've actually started to see a good amount of the protesters having their hands zip-tied behind their backs.

When we were live with you a short time ago, we saw those officers starting to form a line. It was just after that when they moved in around what was left of the group that had been protesting all day near that detention facility, and really gave them the ultimatum that it was time to disperse, time to go home, or to risk being arrested.

We just had a full bus from the Los Angeles Police Department filled up with individuals with, again, their hands zip-tied behind their back. They were just driven away.

We have another bus further down the street that's starting to be filled, as well.

So again, we've seen protests throughout the morning, throughout the afternoon. We've seen those protests change a little bit in terms of the tenor of them.

Some of those clashes starting to happen between protesters and a lot of the law enforcement officers here as they started to move those groups through L.A.

We're about a half mile away from that facility at this point. And again, it seems we've now reached that point where the call was made. They've given them the time, the ability to -- to voice their frustrations, voice their concerns, and now they're telling people it's time to go home or, again, to risk being detained like we're seeing so many on the other side of the street at this point tonight here in L.A.

COATES: Michael Yoshida, thank you so much. Keep us posted. We're watching on the screen, as well. People being dispersed, again, and some sort of smoke in the air, as well.

Joining me now is Lindsey Horvath. She's a member of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors and the former mayor of West Hollywood.

Lindsey, welcome. What is your reaction to the federal government's response to these protests tonight?

LINDSEY HORVATH, MEMBER, L.A. COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: It is shameful to see the federal government escalating what is clearly a devastating situation.

We have families being torn apart. I have constituents who are concerned that, if they leave to go to work, that their children might come home and -- to an empty home, because they have been detained.

They are telling their families where their important paperwork is before they leave the home in case they get taken.

I met a woman who works at a car wash today, whose husband was kidnapped by ICE yesterday.

This kind of destruction in our communities is incredibly harmful. And after the destruction that we have seen in 2025 in Los Angeles already, this is in no way helping us to heal and come together. It's further dividing us, pitting people against each other.

This federal government is escalating the chaos that is happening -- happening on our streets by calling in the National Guard and the Marines. It is just incredibly heartbreaking to see what's happening.

COATES: In fact, you posted on X tonight, saying the federal administration created this chaos. They instigated it. What needs to happen for this situation to end?

HORVATH: We need to see a de-escalation of forces on our streets. We need to see that this federal government is actually investing in our community, not tearing it apart.

We know, in Los Angeles County, how to invest in our immigrant communities. Our Office of Immigrant Affairs is providing services and support consistently. And unfortunately, government is not a trusted entity now because of how the federal government is operating.

So we're relying even more on our community partners to be in the front lines, to make sure that people who are frightened, who are being intimidated by this federal government, get the support and help that they need, that they're able to stay safe and protect their families.

COATES: Well, you're a member of the board of supervisors, obviously, a local entity. Is the federal government's presence undermining the board's ability to keep this under control?

HORVATH: Absolutely. We see that our sheriff is doing the best job he possibly can, leading the mutual aid effort on the ground. That is his role for the region. [00:45:08]

And when Los -- the city of Los Angeles and other cities have called in for mutual aid, he has responded to their call in.

In turn, the governor has also stepped up and provided California Highway Patrol to station some of the highways where -- that are near some of these areas.

So, there are local forces on the ground. Our city, county, and state partnership is working as it's intended to.

What's escalating this problem -- and you can see that this escalated activity is happening around the federal building. I was at the Hall of Administration, which is the county seat in Los Angeles, today. There was a peaceful protest in Grand Park, in Gloria Molina Park, and then everybody dispersed.

We -- we saw that David Huerta was released, thankfully. He has been protesting. He's one of our beloved union leaders, who was detained by ICE.

But we saw that protest happen peacefully, and people moved on. That is what is happening.

What is escalating this situation is the increased presence, and it's happening around the federal building. And it's intended to intimidate. It's intended to be a scare tactic, and it's intended to escalate instead of calm down what's happening on our streets.

COATES: Lindsey Horvath, thank you for tonight.

HORVATH: Thank you.

COATES: On this, the fourth night of these protests, it's important to remember they started because of immigration raids by the administration. And Trump's border czar says they are not going to stop. A former ICE official joins me next.

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[00:51:04]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR KAREN BASS (D), LOS ANGELES: Can't emphasize enough the level of fear and terror that is in Angelenos right now, not knowing if tomorrow or tonight, it might be where they live. It might be their workplace. Should you send your kids to school? Should you go to work?

And you remember this from several years ago. This same type of fear that was going around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: That was L.A. Mayor Karen Bass on the feeling throughout the city that led to these protests.

It's all a response to an immigration crackdown in the region as the Trump administration looks to raise arrests and deportation numbers.

On June 4, ICE arrested 2,200 people, the most arrests in a single day in its history. What actually is the story behind these arrests? How do we get from those raids to these protests?

John Sandweg is with me to help us understand. He's the former acting director of ICE.

John, welcome and thank you for joining me. The week-long tally of immigration arrests across L.A. was above 100. This does not include the protest arrests count, as you know.

But Trump campaigned on being very tough on immigration. Are these raids what we should come to expect to be seeing, based on all that?

JOHN SANDWEG, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR OF ICE: I think so, Laura.

Remember, the administration -- when we started this mass deportation effort, it kind of began with the tactics that ICE has traditionally used: looking for those individuals, specific individuals who had a nexus to the criminal justice system, then building a targeting plan and going out and arresting those, those one-offs. You know, very surgically done.

This, there are some differences. Along the way, the administration would pick up other migrants if they encountered them.

The problem was that wasn't getting the numbers that the Trump administration wanted. And as we know recently, as recently as about three weeks ago, there was this meeting with Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem, where they told -- they fired some ICE officials and told those officials to ramp up the number of arrests.

What that's done is it's put ICE under pressure to find ways to make the largest number of arrests possible with the fewest officers. And unfortunately, what that means is these sweeps, this -- this hitting these Home Depot parking lots, worksite enforcement.

The problem, though, of course, Laura, is that that's not where you're going to find your criminal aliens. This is not targeted operations going after people you know as a nexus to public safety or the criminal justice system. It's more about finding those migrants who are there, and it's about volume.

In doing that, of course, you're going to trigger this civil unrest. It just -- it puts pressure on these communities, where you're targeting individuals who've been in this country for 20-plus years, who have U.S. citizens who, you know, go to church with the people we see on the streets. They work with the people on the streets.

You're just putting tremendous pressure on those communities when you engage in these type of operations in a way that doesn't really promote public safety. COATES: Well, Governor Gavin Newsom, John, is saying tonight that ICE

is conducting checkpoints throughout the city. They're checking I.D.s, apparently. Is that normal or part of that volume -- hoping operation?

SANDWEG: Yes, Laura, it's not normal. Again, traditionally over the last ten years, and including during the first Trump administration, ICE would primarily do -- when they're doing arrests in cities like Los Angeles, it would be targeted. They know who they're looking for, and they have -- that individual has some nexus to the criminal justice system.

Now in the Trump administration, you know, let's be clear about this. They lowered the threshold. They would go after individuals rather than being someone who had been convicted of a felony. It could be someone who just had a traffic offense, you know, for driving without a license. But they're going after a known specific individual.

But you're never going to get your numbers that way, especially not with the current resources ICE has. I mean, these mandates that the administration has put ICE under are probably unreachable, even utilizing these tactics. But it just does put this pressure on the agency.

You know, and, Laura, to be fair, most of these men and women at ICE signed up to make an impact on public safety. I know this -- you know, this kind of work and what's going on right now just puts them in such a terrible light.

But I spent five years working with these folks, and I will tell you that most of them are committed to making a difference and making our country safer, but they are under this pressure from the elected president of the United States.

[00:55:09]

And that requires, yes, tactics like that. Checkpoints, area sweeps. You know, we start flooding an area and where you suspect there are high volumes of undocumented immigrants. You start making traffic stops on pretextual grounds. You start hitting the Home Depot parking lots.

Again, it's tactics that allow us to drive up the number of arrests, but it doesn't do anything in terms of the quality of arrest or identifying those criminals or those gang members.

COATES: John Sandweg, very enlightening. Thank you so much.

SANDWEG: My pleasure.

COATES: I want to give you a quick update on the situation involving our own Jason Carroll. He was moved out of the protest scene by police tonight, but we have since learned that two members of his security team were arrested.

We'll be asking LAPD about this and bring you their response.

Thank you so much for watching. Our live breaking news coverage of the protest in Los Angeles continues with M.J. Lee in just a moment.

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