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Laura Coates Live

Curfew in Effect in Downtown L.A. for Second Straight Night; General Undercuts Trump's Claims of an "Invasion." Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired June 11, 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]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Tonight, President Trump and first lady Melania Trump attended the opening night of "Les Miserables" at the Kennedy Center as protests erupted across America over his immigration raids.

When Trump entered, boos were drawn out by USA chants at one point. Also, four drag queens arrived for what they called a nondisruptive protest against Trump's rhetoric.

It's worth noting "Les Miserables" is about a prisoner on parole who tears up his papers to try to live as a good citizen. He then gets caught up in a revolution against the government.

Now, take that as you will. Thank you very much for watching "NewsNight." "Laura Coates Live" is right now.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News.

LAURA COATES, CNN HOST AND SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Good evening. I'm Laura Coates. A curfew for parts of Downtown Los Angeles is now in effect for the second straight night. A short time ago, police declared an unlawful assembly outside city hall.

We are now on night six of these protests against President Trump's immigration raids. The National Guard troops he deployed, they remain in the city tonight with Marines still on the outskirts conducting training. A California official say that he is only fanning the flames. Those 700 Marines are still rehearsing crowd control tactics. But what happens if or when they enter the city?

Even L.A.'s top cop seems to know. The police chief is telling CNN tonight the military's role is still unclear. And L.A. Mayor Karen Bass says their presence is not welcome.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR KAREN BASS, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: When you start deploying federalized troops on the heels of these raids, it is a drastic and chaotic escalation and completely unnecessary. The curfew that we put in place yesterday is about six square miles of a city that is 500 square miles. So, the portrayal is that all of our cities are in chaos, rioting is happening everywhere, and it is a lie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: The anger is not slowing down the Trump administration's immigration raids. Take Downey, California, a city just 13 miles south of Downtown L.A. The council member says that ICE agents raided a Home Depot, a fitness center, and arrested an elderly man outside a place of worship.

The raids are also happening well beyond California. The mayor of Omaha, Nebraska says that his community is on edge. This after a raid on a meat packing plant. ICE released this video showing agents making arrests there. Workers tried to block ICE vehicles as they were pulling out of the plant. The mayor says about 70 people, 70 were placed in custody.

But if the raids are spreading, so are the protests against them. Demonstrators are out from coast to coast, including Saint Louis, New York, San Antonio, Raleigh. And one question tonight, could the Trump administration deploy military forces to those cities? Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says in L.A., it could be a playbook of sorts for other places.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Part of it is getting ahead of a problem, so that if in other places, if there are other riots in places where law enforcement officers are threatened, we would have the capability to surge National Guard there if necessary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: CNN's Nick Watt is live in Downtown L.A. for night number two of this curfew. Nick, we've seen some tense moments before that curfew started. It's now in place. So, what does the scene look like now?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, they declared this unlawful assembly about an hour before the curfew.

Police on horseback, batons raised, moved the crowd up through this park, down through the street. And then we were told that we were not allowed to follow because arrests were underway and if we were there, that might compromise the tactics. So, we are being held here. I mean, we can leave that way, we just can't get down here.

We've seen, I would say, maybe 20 or 30 arrests. It has all been pretty peaceful, I got to say, from our vantage point. Again, I haven't seen the actual place where the arrests have been happening.

As you say, as Karen Bass has said, the protests in the city are concentrated on a very small area. But I tell you what is citywide, and that is the fear amongst the undocumented population and also just amongst the larger immigrant population. I spoke to one person this morning. She'd heard that there was a raid near her house. She was scared to go home. She didn't know what to do. She's hearing ICE is going to be here for 60 days. There is a lot of fear.

And there is protest. People protesting, exercising their right to protest against these ICE raids and against the fact that there are federal troops in Los Angeles.

[23:05:00]

Now, all of these people you see here, these are all local law enforcement: LAPD, L.A. Metro, the county sheriff. The National Guard are staying on the federal property protecting those federal buildings, the detention center down just half a mile from where I am now, which has been the focus of the protests over the past few days. The federal troops are staying on that property.

Now, it has been pretty calm today compared to the past few days. As you say, curfew is just now kicking in. So, we're going to head around and just see how that's going. Yesterday, a lot of people did defy that curfew. About 200 people were arrested for doing just that. We've already seen a bunch of arrests pre-curfew, 20 or 30 of them. So, let's see how the rest of the night plays out. Back to you.

COATES: And Nick, I mean, last night, police seem to be very patient. They were not immediately enforcing that curfew --

WATT: Yeah.

COATES: -- at, like, 8:01 your time. There was some lapse of time. But will the officers do the same thing tonight now that it's day two? Are you getting a sense of what the mood is in terms of when these arrests might start?

WATT: As you say, last night, they were methodical, they were slow. They didn't just come in 8:01 and start zip tying people. That was not the tactic and it does not look like that is the tactic tonight either.

I will say that the police have been slightly on edge, certainly, when the horses were coming through here. We saw, down outside city hall, there were protesters chanting peaceful protest, peaceful protest. A line of police horses, some police officers with their nonlethal rounds lifting those weapons up towards those protesters.

There was a little tension. I saw one officer got a guy on his bike who driven -- who'd ridden through a police line. Nonthreateningly, the police officer got him, threw him off his bike.

Generally, the police are very chill and are doing this very responsibly as they did last night. As you say, they did not barrel in trying to arrest people last night and it looks like they're not going to be doing the same. They are going to be doing the same thing tonight. Just keeping it chill. They will arrest people, but they're not going in, batons flying. That's not what is happening at all.

And again, just to reiterate, this is a tiny little slice of this city. A tiny slice. Most Angelinos are going about their business. People, about 4,000 maybe, we've been told, have been protesting. A fraction of them protesting violently. And between the LAPD and the county sheriff, that's nearly 18,000 officers plus other police departments.

The message from L.A. is these guys have it under control, the local officials have it under control, they don't want the feds here. Laura?

COATES: Nick Watt, thank you so much.

We're also seeing protests against ICE raids in Spokane, Washington. We've seen people detained, some of the protesters, the police there. Officers have been telling the crowd to disperse or risk arrest.

I'm joined now by Medaria Arradondo, the former police chief of Minneapolis. He was chief when George Floyd was killed. Chief, welcome back. We are seeing arrests underway as curfews begin, the curfew in Los Angeles. Nick Watt just said that 20 to 30 arrests have already been made. It has been pretty peaceful so far. What stands out to you given the ability, it seems, for the local law enforcement to contain what has happened?

MEDARIA ARRADONDO, FORMER POLICE CHIEF, MINNEAPOLIS POLICE DEPARTMENT: Yeah. Thank you again, Laura, for having me tonight. As Nick reported, this is exactly what Chief McDonnell talked about. You know, back in Minneapolis, the summer of 2020, we enacted, through the governor -- our curfew citywide was day four. They enacted it on day five. This is the second night of that curfew. Chief McDonnell is very -- he's very strategic. He knows that the curfew is a public safety tool to keep that area safe.

And so, what Nick probably can't see out there is that they've got their incident commanders, they've got their mobile field force teams. And -- and, Laura, for your viewers, that's broken down to arrest teams, to booking teams. There's -- there's -- so, it's a very detailed and strategic plan that they have.

And -- and that's why also, Laura, the LAPD does this. They train for this constantly. They know the -- the -- the landscape of whether it's city hall or whether it's the -- the central district where -- you know, the fashion district, the arts district, and certainly Chinatown. They know that footprint and that's why, they're really -- they're in the advantage of how they go about and deliver this -- this curfew tonight and these unlawful assembly orders.

And so, I have, again, the utmost confidence in -- in Chief McDonnell. He's a great leader, and we're seeing this play out tonight. Hopefully, again, there won't be any sort of destruction or -- or -- or violent behaviors, but his teams -- his teams have that under control.

[23:10:02]

COATES: Let's talk about the control because, as you know, there are about 4,700 troops in Los Angeles, 2,000 National Guard members, 700 Marines. They have not been deployed yet. But even L.A.'s police chief seemed to suggest he wasn't quite sure what they will do. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF JIM MCDONNELL, POLICE CHIEF, LAPD: The role is still not clear to us, the Marines or the National Guard, other than they're a support entity to protect federal employees and facilities. But the agents they're protecting do have, certainly, the right to be able to arrest lawbreakers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: So, they can make the arrest. They're in a support position. That seems like a very generalized term. Why would their role be undefined right now, what, day five, six in?

ARRADONDO: Yeah, Laura, that -- that's -- it's -- it's concerning to hear that from Chief McDonnell. He is the lead law enforcement public safety agency for the four million residents of Los Angeles.

That communication is critically important. I -- I did hear Chief McDonnell say earlier that General Sherman, who is on the ground, who -- has taken command of the federalized National Guard soldiers as well as the 700 Marines. But that communication is very important in order for Chief McDonnell and his teams to provide the best collaboration with our federalized National Guard soldiers as well as the Marines if, in fact, they -- they get operational orders. He needs that communication.

And -- and lastly, also on that communication piece, Laura, you know, at some point in time, it's not going to be today, it may not be tomorrow, but at some point in time, those National Guard soldiers are going to be deactivated from Los Angeles, and those 700 Marines will go back to their -- their missions. Chief McDonnell and his teams will still have to be there protecting the four million people and residents of Los Angeles.

And that trust is so very important. He just needs to be on a communication stream with them so that they're speaking the same language, so that they're -- they got the same goals in mind to keep all people safe. And so, for the chief not to have that communication, that -- that could be problem. So, I -- I do hope, again, with General Sherman on the ground, hopefully, with Chief McDonnell, they're starting to have that communication. I hope that's the case.

COATES: Chief, as you're speaking, we're seeing images right now of Spokane, Washington. We're seeing people who are clearly being detained, at least four people being escorted away through what appears to be some sort of smoky area, officers escorting people. The tension seems to be mounting.

We used to have a very clear shot, then there seemed to be some sort of device that released some sort of smoke into the air. I'm not sure if it was the police who dispersed it or civilians who did so instead. People are covering their eyes and their mouths right now as they're trying to walk away. We do see police lights that are visible through that smoke.

But, again, this is happening not just in Los Angeles, not just in Dallas, as we saw even last night, or even New York City. This is also now in Spokane, Washington.

And so, you have to wonder, for police chiefs around the nation, are they beginning to at least touch base and coordinate with the possibility that a protest might come to their area? And if so, do you foresee a conversation about National Guardsmen and others going to those zones, too?

ARRADONDO: Laura, absolutely. I think that, certainly, chiefs in major cities are looking at the manner in which Chief McDonnell is handling this in Los Angeles, which is unprecedented in terms of the federalized National Guard coming in as well as having Marines deployed to that area.

Major city chiefs are absolutely going to be communicating because this is probably going to be -- not probably, this will be sort of the normal, I imagine, over the course of this year. So, it's going to be very important for cities and chiefs of police to start preparing now. What does that response look like? How are they building, again, those relationships in the quiet moments now?

Reaching out to organizers and union leaders and even activists to just make sure that in the event these should happen in their cities, how can they all work together, collaborate -- again, at the end of the day, make sure that First Amendment rights are protected and people are --

COATES: Sure.

ARRADONDO: -- protesting peacefully, but at the same time keeping their communities safe.

COATES: We're seeing a split screen right now. While on the right side is a curfew in effect in Los Angeles that began at 8 p.m. their time, 11 p.m. on the East, new protest is rising in tension in Spokane, Washington on the left side where you see people who had been detained. Zip ties were already implemented at least for those individuals as well.

Can you just -- I hear the mayor of Los Angeles talk about this, and she was focusing on the idea that any intimation, any indication or visual that suggests this is a citywide-issue or that violence is directing all over Los Angeles, is -- she calls it a lie.

[23:15:06]

She's focused on this one square mile where the protests are most concentrated, and then expanding beyond where there is a curfew in place in some surrounding areas.

As a chief of police, do you see a distinction or a strategy of how you would try to concentrate a protest given the limitations, given the spread of Los Angeles and, of course, the area that is most affected?

ARRADONDO: Well, yes. And so, Laura, that is exactly what Chief McDonnell had -- had talked about. Before the -- the federalized National Guard soldiers came in and the deployment of 700 Marines, they went to their -- their normal protocol.

They went to a tactical order, basically getting all personnel at least ready that they're going to be in this operation for a longer period of time. They operated mutual aid, meaning that of the several counties surrounding Los Angeles, they have an agreement that if they need assistance, those -- those agencies, assisting agencies, would provide that. And they're under that now. And certainly, they have state and -- and -- and county assistance as well.

So, there is a layer that -- that happens before the chief of police will determine and -- and communicate that with the mayor that, you know what? Even with the resources we have, we need more. And that's when, obviously, in my case in Minneapolis, the mayor would then reach out and -- and ask for a declaration to have the National Guard come in. But there's -- but that gets to a point of series of assessments.

And so, again, as Chief McDonnell has stated, he didn't believe they were there at that point in time, into day six of this public safety operation and day two of the curfew. It appears, at least from the reporting on the ground and certainly from Chief McDonnell himself, at least right now, they -- they seem to have the resources that they need to manage this situation. Hopefully, that stays that way.

But, again, as you mentioned, Laura, we're starting to see this pop up in other cities across the country. So, it would behoove chiefs of police to start communicating now and to start thinking about how do we plan if we should have any sorts of disruptions and -- and unrest if that were to occur.

COATES: Chief Medaria Arradondo, thank you so much for your insight.

Joining me now, CNN political commentator Jamal Simmons, Republican strategist Joe Pinon, and CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter.

I want to begin with -- with you, Joe, because there's new polling out that -- that suggests that 40% of people approve of how President Trump is handling deportation. Is the White House miscalculating this moment? Do they expect, you think, to have a higher percentage of people who are supportive of the tactic?

JOE PINION, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, NEW YORK GOP SURROGATE, FORMER SENATE CANDIDATE: Well, look, I -- I think every single day we see people throwing rocks at law enforcement, throwing rocks at people driving cars, I think that you're going to see those numbers change.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST, AUTHOR, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT FOR VANITY FAIR: That's not -- that's not true, by the way. That hasn't happened today. That has not happened today. You said every single day.

PINION: I -- I -- I --

STELTER: You said every single day, we see people throwing rocks at cars.

PINION: I think we should do a little bit more listening. I said every single day we see. That's what I said. As in every single time we see.

STELTER: So, your social media algorithm is lying to you, showing you old, outdated video hurting you.

PINION: I -- I believe that you're hearing what you want to hear.

STELTER: Okay.

PINION: Again, if that's what you want to hear, that's fine.

STELTER: Also, "The Washington Post" poll tonight showed that --

PINION: Perhaps let Brian answer the question.

STELTER: -- the more people tune in, the more disturbed they are. Really interesting polling by "The Washington Post" tonight.

PINION: That's -- that's your opinion. But --

STELTER: No, it's "The Washington Post" poll.

PINION: -- Laura didn't ask you the question.

COATES: Well, let --

PINION: She asked me the question. Perhaps I can --

COATES: Well, let me ask --

PINION: -- answer the question, and then we can have a real conversation.

COATES: I want to hear from all of you, and I will hear from all of you. I think you're all going to raise very salient points. Let me ask you about this point, Joe, though, about this idea of this -- this particular poll I'm talking about where it's 40% of people approving of how President Trump is handling deportations. They don't want 40. I'm sure they want 60 in the other direction. So, what do you think is contributing to the steps?

PINION: Sure. I -- I think that you can take any number in a vacuum. I think the reality is the numbers that came out today -- Harry Enten, who gets a paycheck from every -- this network every week, said that there is a net positive for President Trump on immigration. Those numbers remain.

And so, I do think that at some point, Democrats have to accept the fact that they are out of step with the American people on this issue. There is a vibrant, virulent strain within their party that is in support of trying to push back against President Trump. You've had the governor of California, who has staked his name and his future political rise on being able to stand up to President Trump.

But let's just be very clear about the fact that the National Guard is not in California because of the fact that we have some type of overarching method trying to beat down on Democrats. The National Guard is there because people were acting in a manner that was completely unacceptable.

And if you remember, going back to Black Lives Matter, when we watched the Third Precinct burn down, while we had the famous (INAUDIBLE) mostly peaceful protest, the National Guard had been deployed on that day, but they were not fully mobilized for another two days.

[23:20:06]

And so, I think part of what the administration is trying to do is to get out ahead of what could become a tinderbox. And so, we don't have what we had in that city, which began a summer of having the largest insurance claim in the modern history of this country for -- for civil disobedience.

COATES: So, since we're going back in time, we'll draw the analogy you made of the 2020 George Floyd. Let's go to, of course, January 6 --

JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: January 6 --

COATES: -- as well because there's an easy parallel to -- in terms of what was not done there. But I -- I want to start with the present for a moment, please --

SIMMONS: Yeah.

COATES: -- because there is truth in the matter that Democrats and Republicans both -- we're talking about generalizing here -- do want to see some level of immigration reform and humanity at the same time. Can both be true, that they would like to have immigration issues addressed? But the tactics in which are being used and the idea of the National Guard being deployed with Marines as well in spite of what the governor wants, can that also tick them off?

SIMMONS: You know, the president ran on -- excuse me. The president ran on going out and getting thugs, criminals, murderers, rapists. Now, what the president is doing, they're sending ICE agents into Home Depot lots, rounding up people who want to come to your house and help hammer in, you know, wood for you.

They're going -- we see -- we got video of women with their children being taken out of their arms as the moms are being taken away by ICE agents, but we're not sure exactly what's happening with these women.

We've got cases now of people being sent to foreign countries and the government admitting we don't really know who these people are or why we sent them there, maybe -- whether it was right or it was wrong.

The -- the American people are fine taking care of people who -- getting rid of or deporting people who are really criminals.

But I think there's something to be said when you're sending in military units, when you're sending in the United States Marines, people who train at Paris Island or in south -- in San Diego.

To go into foreign countries and kill people or -- as my young cousin would say, blow things up, although he didn't say things, they want to go in and blow stuff up, that's not what the American people train for or want. To see those kinds of military assets being used against American citizens just for speaking up their mind, that's what, I think, is going to ultimately hurt the president's number.

COATES: I want you to address this, Brian, but I just want to underscore one thing that I think is not talked about enough. I think you touched on this. When I -- as a woman, when I am watching ununiformed men approach people and telling women to get into a car --

STELTER: Yes.

COATES: -- I can't tell you how triggering that must be. It goes against everyone's fiber of their very being. Now, they might ultimately -- obviously be authorities. But people have to also recognize what that might do to the psyche of somebody who's wondering, are you a legitimate person? Am I safe with you? Forget the idea of citizenship and beyond. You're asking some people to go under the custody and not know where they're going. And that's something that should be addressed as well.

But Brian, L.A. leaders, politicians, they are very angry with the way in which they believe the media is portraying what's happening in these areas. Now, I've heard on our air just in the last 22 minutes, multiple times it be said, this is a particular square mile that's being focused on, but their comment you just had with Joe indicates in many ways how people are viewing what's happening in L.A. Is there some truth to the criticism?

STELTER: The loop de loop is the problem. And it's not really happening on CNN. It's happening on other channels. The loop de loop, the constant replaying of old images, days-old images, in the same way that some people like to talk about 2020 as if that happened just last week.

Look, tonight, Trump was asked at the Kennedy Center. He was asked about the protests spreading. He told the Fox reporter they didn't believe it was happening. Seriously? You send in National Guard troops to scare a city. Of course, people are going to show up in Spokane and Indianapolis and Denver and everywhere else. This is going to become a national movement in the coming days.

And look, there's already fearmongering about that happening on the right, but we know it because we can see the organization happening online. This Saturday is going to be a historic event with these no king protests. And there's not -- you know -- yeah.

COATES: Let's distinguish between media and social media for a moment --

STELTER: Ah, right.

COATES: -- because I think there -- therein lies a lot of the rub.

STELTER: There's a big difference. Right? Because when you log on to X or even Facebook, you search L.A. riots. If you want to believe there is rioting happening right now, you can go down that rabbit hole and believe those lies. It exists online even though it doesn't exist in real life.

PINION: Look, I -- I will simply say this. With all due respect, I think that there is a greater onus that can be placed on the media to make sure that we don't have the same B-roll footage that we show over and over and over again. But to pretend that it's just happening on this issue or on one type of network is fundamentally dishonest. So, I think we have to start there.

I would also say that, with all due respect to the mayor, she has demonstrated that, whether it is quite literally the entire city burning down from forest fires or just a tiny sliver of the city that has apparently been taken hostage by the most extreme elements in society, she has not actually had the ability or the courage.

[23:25:01]

SIMMONS: That's not true.

PINION: I truly believe --

SIMMONS: That's not true.

PINION: I do --

SIMMONS: That's not true.

PINION: I haven't even finished my statement.

SIMMONS: Because your statement is not true.

PINION: How do you -- well, I mean --

(CROSSTALK)

SIMMONS: -- she --

PINION: -- by whom?

SIMMONS: -- the most -- people in Los Angeles, who I'm talking to today. She has been more effective in this crisis than she was in the last.

PINION: Well, I will -- I will -- I will 100% say that, but I did not say that she was less effective here than she was before. What I had said or was attempting to say before I was interrupted again was that she has demonstrated that she is not, in many ways, being forthright about the images that we are all seeing with our own eyes.

I think that is the fundamental rubber meeting the road for the Democratic Party. If they would at least just acknowledge that what we are witnessing is actually true, that it is abhorrent, that it has no place in their party, in the same way that I have to apologize for every Tom, Dick, and Harry from some random state who has "R" next to their name that does something crazy, perhaps we'd actually have a real, honest conversation to get them involved.

STELTER: You're off the hook. You don't have to apologize anymore. You're off the hook.

COATES: You've heard -- you've heard it here from a Republican strategist, that you should believe your own eyes. Thank you, guys.

Much more from Los Angeles ahead. But up next, a new flashpoint emerging in Omaha, Nebraska. ICE agents raiding a meat packing plant in a dramatic sweep that caught local officials and the plant's owner off-guard. Dozens of workers were detained. And my next guest warns the consequences from this will be far and wide.

And later, how President Trump's top general just undercut his claims of a so-called invasion.

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[23:30:00]

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COATES: A community in Nebraska is on edge tonight after an immigration raid in a meat production plant led to more than half of that plant's workforce being detained.

ICE released this footage today showing federal agents entering the facility. You hear them yelling, show your hands, catching these workers off-guard.

Authorities say about 70 people were detained, led onto buses with the windows blacked out. The owner of the plant is arguing that he followed the rules for hiring workers but still was raided, anyway.

Now, that raid is sparking fear and backlash with protesters throwing rocks at law enforcement vehicles. Some even jumped onto the front bumpers of the agents' cars. You can see the cars keep on going as they try to get these protesters to move. The Department of Homeland Security says the raid was the largest ever in Nebraska during Trump's presidency.

With me now is Margo Juarez, a Democrat and member of the Nebraska State Senate. Senator Juarez, thank you for joining me.

The South Omaha area where this raid took place contains a large immigrant community comprising, I think, roughly a quarter of the residents. How are members of your community responding and reflecting on this tonight?

STATE SEN. MARGO JUAREZ (D-NE): Well, thank you very much for the invitation to speak to you tonight on behalf of my community. And, of course, there are families right now who are enduring an unknown because nobody has spoken with the immigrants that have been taken and loaded on the bus and vans out of the plant. And, obviously, there's a tremendous amount of concern about how everyone is doing. And I'm not sure that everyone even knows where they're located. COATES: Hmm.

JUAREZ: And, obviously, there's a fear of, is it going to continue? Where is the next raid going to happen in our state? And just, you know, a lot of hearts hurting right now.

COATES: So, you don't have any knowledge right now or the status of those who were taken to custody as to where they are or where they might go next?

JUAREZ: No. We -- as far as I'm aware, no one has spoken with any of the people who have been taken from the plant. And I know -- you know, some people may still have their cellphones with them, and they've been able to try to keep --

COATES: Hmm.

JUAREZ: -- get a signal from that, but they know that that signal is going to die. And so then, they don't know, you know, when they're going to have the opportunity to interact with them.

COATES: Senator, executives of the company that own this plant say that they did everything by the books, they do everything by books, and that all employees are vetted using E-Verify. That's that federal database used to confirm the immigration status of employees. Are you surprised that they were targeted nonetheless?

JUAREZ: Yes. I must say that, actually, it is a surprise and it just makes you wonder, you know, if the purpose of that program is to have authorized workforce to be employed for you. Where is the failure happening? And why did they choose that particular plant?

And there's -- there was a bill that was suggested in our state legislature that they wanted to make this type of program available for private employers. And so, I question whether or not this really is the right tool to use for the employers.

And it is, you know, interesting that this is the facility that they targeted. And, of course, there were rumors previously that a raid was happening at a particular facility and it didn't occur. And now, the reality has finally hit us in our community.

COATES: Many questions remain, and status is to be determined. State Senator Margo Juarez, thank you so much for joining.

[23:35:00]

JUAREZ: Thank you so much. We appreciate your support.

COATES: Up next, we'll check back in with our team on the ground in Los Angeles on the curfew that is now in place. And later, the calls for generals to speak up against the president's use of the military.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES: Right now, a tense calm hanging over the streets in Downtown L.A.

[23:40:01]

We're half hour now into the curfew there. And police are arresting people who are still on the street in this one-mile area, the ones who are protesting ICE raids, it seems.

CNN's Michael Yoshida is there. Michael, describe what's going on where you are.

MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey. Good evening. Laura, you mentioned we're about a half hour into the second night of a curfew here in the small part of Downtown L.A. And really just until the last five or 10 minutes, this intersection was still packed with protesters. We have police further down to my left. We had police all around further to my right. You can see they've now cleared out. You can see some lights and sirens in the distance. Those officers just went through. You might be able to hear the law enforcement helicopter up above.

But this entire area within the curfew zone, if we walk this way, just want to show, you can see we have city hall right behind me here. And we -- as you walk around, you'll notice you have law enforcement basically at every entrance, whether it's city hall. We have a United States courthouse on another corner here.

Just going to step back out of the way. You can see we have some more -- I believe this is LAPD or some other law enforcement starting to move through this intersection.

Again, it was up until just a few minutes ago. We still had maybe three, four dozen protesters in this area. They just recently started clearing out, moving in several directions.

It appears now, again, we have more law enforcement moving throughout this area. This is something we saw last night for the -- when -- during that night of the curfew here in this about one square mile area. A few gatherings. Police would move in, clear them out. Some arrests were made.

But, again, the mayor and others talking about this is all geared on trying to clamp down on some of the more violent interactions. Some of that looting that we did see, the LAPD saying, a few days ago, that was about 23 or so businesses for the first few days that were looted overnight.

So, again, we're 30 minutes or so in tonight two of this curfew. As you can see, calm behind me right now, and we'll be keeping an eye on it as the night goes on.

COATES: Michael Yoshida, thank you so much. We should continue to assess the effectiveness of their curfew.

Up next, critics slamming the president, accusing him of using troops as political pawns, all while questioning the silence of the generals. Should America's military leaders be speaking out? We'll ask retired Admiral James Stavridis who -- on that very question and more, next.

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[23:45:00]

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COATES: Some breaking news out of Spokane, Washington. The city's mayor there has just issued a curfew for a part of the city where we've been seeing protests take place tonight. That curfew is set to take effect in about 45 minutes from now. Police have been telling the crowd there to disperse or risk getting arrested. We will keep an eye on the situation for you and bring you updates as we learn more.

President Trump says the U.S. is being invaded. He has made that claim time and time again. First, to justify deportations. And now, he's saying that's why he needs to deploy troops to Los Angeles. Listen to Trump's speech to troops at Fort Bragg yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: What you're witnessing in California is a full-blown assault on peace, on public order, and a national sovereignty carried out by rioters bearing foreign flags with the aim of continuing a foreign invasion. We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy. That's what they are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: That speech is being criticized for its overtly political and combative tone. It was initially meant to celebrate the Army's 250th anniversary So, is the United States really being invaded? Well, Trump's top general doesn't seem to think so.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BRIAN SCHATZ (D-HI): Is the United States being invaded by a foreign nation?

GEN. DAN CAINE, CHAIRMAN, UNITED STATES JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: Sir, thanks -- thanks for your question. Um, I -- I think it -- at this point in time, I -- I don't see any foreign state-sponsored folks invading, but I'll, you know, be mindful of the fact that -- that there has been some border issues throughout time.

SCHATZ: Is there a rebellion somewhere in the United States?

CAINE: Sir, I -- I think there's -- there's definitely some -- some frustrated folks out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Joining me now, CNN senior military analyst and former NATO supreme allied commander, retired Admiral James Stavridis. Admiral, thank you for joining us. There's actually a new piece in "The Atlantic" by -- by Tom Nichols, and he says -- quote -- "Senior officers of the United States military have an obligation to speak up and be leaders when it comes to Trump's actions." Do you agree with that sentiment?

JAMES STAVRIDIS, CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST, FORMER SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER OF NATO: I think the onus is on all of us. Everybody in society. It's not just the military's job. It's job of everybody: journalists, observers, writers. All of us need to observe the fact that, no, we are not being invaded, no, there is not a rebellion in progress and, therefore, there is no need to have active-duty military troops called into our streets.

[23:50:07]

That's something that doesn't require a senior military officer to observe.

COATES: Speaking of members of the military and service members who might be asked to either participate in this way or watching their comrades do so, they might be afraid to speak out, admiral. What is your message to them? Are they even allowed to voice concerns or does that break protocol?

STAVRIDIS: Anyone who is on active duty in the U.S. military should stay away from politics. I'm retired, but I'm a registered independent, I don't engage in political discourse one way or the other. What we want in this country, Laura, is apolitical, non- politically-engaged military. And especially, if you're on active duty wearing a uniform, you should not be involved in anything that crosses a line to endorse a political candidate. Stay out of that. That's my message to anybody on active duty today.

COATES: You know, Nichols, in his piece, he called out Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine as someone who should speak up to Trump. You heard his comments today where he disputed Trump's claims of there being an invasion, although I have to say he seemed to be a little bit reluctant to make that statement concisely. What did you make of that?

STAVRIDIS: I know General Caine. He's a man of integrity. What I heard in his statement was the truth that there is not an invasion in progress right now. And I think we will see our active-duty folks make that observation. And I think we'll see retired folks like me make that observation, we'll see journalists make that observation. We'll see any American citizen with common sense look at the events and say, no, we're not being invaded and, therefore, Laura, there's no call to bring active-duty military like a Marine combat Italian to the streets of Los Angeles. That makes no sense.

COATES: And yet, there's not just one. There are 700 Marines deployed to L.A. They're still undergoing training, as we understand. And this is all, of course, the middle of the week. The week will end on Saturday with a military parade in Washington D.C. And, of course, it's coming on the heels of this speech at Fort Bragg, the deployment of troops to Los Angeles. What do you think about the optics of all this?

STAVRIDIS: Well, it's a terrible split screen, if you will, for the American public. On the one hand, we have a parade in Washington celebrating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. We can debate whether that's appropriate or not. But on the other screen, we have a Marine battalion of 700 combat-trained Marines being deployed to Los Angeles to stand in the way of protests. I think that's a split screen that's hard to explain.

Bottom line, I've commanded Marines in combat again and again and again. They're highly-trained shock troops who are capable of engaging and destroying an enemy. We don't want them in the streets of our cities deployed in any way. That brings them in contact with civilians. I think that split screen is going to be very difficult for the Trump administration to contend with.

COATES: Let's talk about a different split screen that we saw just recently. I mean, on the one hand, I know you've been very clear that you do not think members of the military, active-duty and the like, should be participating publicly in any kind of politics. But there was a moment that we saw at Fort Bragg when boos were heard with respect to certain members of elected office.

But then there was another moment that elicited cheers from that same crowd at Fort Bragg, when it was Trump announcing that the Army would restore the names of seven bases that had been named after Confederate leaders. And, you know, of course, there has been a transition for many of these. What are your thoughts today?

STAVRIDIS: I am deeply concerned to see this administration go back to naming these bases after Confederate generals who rebelled against the United States. These are traitors.

The administration is putting a bit of a fig leaf over it by renaming them ostensibly for individuals with the same name who weren't Confederate generals. This gets complicated.

The bottom line is to name a base after a Confederate general who fought against the United States makes no sense whatsoever to me.

[23:55:04]

COATES: Admiral James Stavridis, thank you so much for joining us tonight.

STAVRIDIS: You bet, Laura.

COATES: Thank you for watching. Live coverage of the curfew in Los Angeles continues with MJ Lee in just a moment.

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UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News. MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm MJ Lee.