Return to Transcripts main page

State of the Union

Interview With Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-CA); Interview With Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY); Interview With Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK); Interview With Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI); Interview With Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Aired 9-10a ET

Aired June 08, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:00:40]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN HOST (voice-over): Federal crackdown. President Trump orders National Guard troops to California to quell clashes over his immigration raids. The governor says the president is trying to inflame the situation. Will it escalate?

The California Congresswoman whose district is a flash point, Nanette Barragan, is here.

And Musk's mutiny. The Trump-Elon pressure cooker erupts.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not thinking about Elon.

BASH: As Musk turns his back on the president, do Democrats see an opening with the world's richest man? Senator Bernie Sanders joins me exclusively.

Plus: Divide and conquer? The GOP splits at a fraught moment for the president.

SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): We want to make the bill better.

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): We have to start addressing our debt.

BASH: Is his agenda in trouble? Two key Republicans with opposing views, Senator Markwayne Mullin and Ron Johnson, will join me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Hello. I'm Dana Bash in Washington, where the state of our union is watching California, where overnight President Trump said he would deploy 2,000 National Guard troops to quell clashes in Los Angeles sparked by his administration's sweeping immigration raids there on Friday. Now, in response, the state's governor, Gavin Newsom, said there was

no shortage of law enforcement locally and accused the president, who bypassed his authority, of wanting a spectacle, calling the move -- quote -- "purposely inflammatory."

It was the first time a president has federalized the National Guard since the Rodney King riots in 1992, and then it was at the request of the governor. Now, overnight, Crowd of protesters in the heavily Latino suburb of Paramount exhibited violent behavior, the L.A. Sheriff's Department said, including throwing fireworks at law enforcement.

Here with me now is California Congresswoman Nanette Barragan, who represents Paramount.

Thank you so much for being here.

Let's start with the fact that the president ordered National Guard troops to respond in L.A. County within the next 24 hours. What have you heard about the situation on the ground? What updates are you getting?

REP. NANETTE BARRAGAN (D-CA): Well, I have spoken to the sheriffs on the ground, who have said they have things under control, there is no need for the National Guard, they have the manpower that they need.

So this is really just an escalation of the president coming into California. We haven't asked for the help. We don't need the help. This is him escalating it, causing tensions to rise. It's only going to make things worse in a situation where people are already angry over immigration enforcement.

They have seen what's happened over the course of the last several months, where you have immigration showing up to hospitals when women are delivering and giving birth and separating parents from their newborns. We're seeing ICE going to schools. And we know that there is no targeted enforcement. That is the problem.

Look, nobody disagrees with targeted enforcement of violent criminals. That is not what's happening here. What happened yesterday in Paramount when this started was, there was a staging location. We understand that they were going to go into the Home Depot, go after day laborers.

I mean, these are people who are looking for work. These are not criminals. They're looking for work. And so protesters came out. It started peacefully. Then we had federal officers issuing -- doing the tear gas, shooting out pellets.

BASH: Federal officers, you mean ICE?

BARRAGAN: ICE, yes. And they were shooting pellets. And people were there to protest. They're there to protest the mass deportations that are happening. And so it was peaceful.

And, of course, you escalate the situation. Now you're talking about bringing in the National Guard to militarize the situation? It's going to get worse. It's unnecessary, again.

BASH: What are you hearing about the National Guard about, how -- we understand it's 2,000.

BARRAGAN: Right.

BASH: But how long they will be there, where they will be deployed?

BARRAGAN: So we have been told to get ready for 30 days of enforcement, 30 days of ICE enforcement. So, 2,000 troops to be there for that enforcement, it's a concern. I mean, it's going to escalate the situation.

People are going to protest because they're angry about the situation. And we have to just reiterate the people to do it peacefully, to make sure not to do any violence. We absolutely condone any -- condemn any violence.

[09:05:03]

BASH: So you said that you have spoken to the law enforcement officials that you work with in your district on the ground.

BARRAGAN: Yes.

BASH: The L.A. County Sheriff's Department did describe the protests in Paramount last night as: "The situation escalated. The crowd of protesters became increasingly agitated, throwing objects and exhibiting violent behavior toward federal agents and deputy sheriffs."

What is your message to people who are getting violent?

BARRAGAN: It's, don't get violent. Those are not the people that are coming out to protest immigration.

What we have seen, what I -- so let me tell you.

BASH: Well, what are violent people doing?

BARRAGAN: OK, so, last night, when I talked to the sheriff, he had told me the situation in Paramount was under control, that the people that were peacefully protest have left.

The situation was now across the street into the Compton area, and this was the unruly folks, that Saturday night crowd. The people that were there to actually protest immigration were gone. We don't -- we agree that, if you're being violent, you should be arrested, you should be prosecuted. There is no disagreement on that. I think that's an effort that we can all say.

But this is not what's happening. We are having an administration that's targeting peaceful protests, people that are there to protest. The president is sending in the National Guard because he doesn't like the scenes. He doesn't like the scenes of people peacefully protesting. And we know that California law enforcement, local law enforcement, they're there to protect the public. They're there to protect and have public safety. And that's what they're there to do. Now, when people turn on law enforcement is when you get that response.

So we want to make sure that people continue to speak up, that people show up, but that people are peaceful about the situation. And that's what we're continuing to tell people.

BASH: Should the protesters -- what's your view on protesters who allegedly try to obstruct what ICE agents are trying to do?

BARRAGAN: Well, I just tell people, be peaceful, have your hands up. Clearly, if you are interfering, they have the ability to arrest you.

But what they're doing is, they're doing -- they're being much more aggressive than that. Just last night, we saw the video of the federal officers being aggressive with press that had press suits on, that were identifying themselves as press.

There is just no regard right now. And that is the concern that we have. And we have to remember why this is happening. It's happening because of everything that's been going on for the last couple of months, and this community is saying, we don't want ICE in our community. We want you out.

Now, there's a way to do this, Dana. There's a way to do targeted ICE enforcement. It's been done for a long time. And that's when you're going after criminals. And that is not what's happening. They're stopping anybody that's at a bus stop, that's going to shop. We saw that they picked up a U.S. Marshal and thought he was somebody. They detained him.

So they are picking up innocent people. They're picking up American citizens, and then they're detaining them. Now, we also know, of course, the president of the labor union was assaulted and had to go to the hospital, was hurt. Now he's being detained.

It's really out of control.

BASH: Congresswoman, thank you so much for being here. I know you're going to have a very busy day, days ahead of you. It sounds like maybe even 30 days.

BARRAGAN: Yes.

BASH: Appreciate it. Thank you so much.

And we're going to continue on the story, as well as the eventful situation here in Washington this week.

I want to bring in independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Sir, thank you so much for being here.

I'm going to start where I left off with the congresswoman. What is your response to the fact that the president has ordered 2,000 National Guard troops to California?

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Look, Dana, we have a president who is moving this country rapidly into authoritarianism.

He is suing media who criticizes him. He is going after law firms who have clients who were against him. He's going after universities that teach courses that he doesn't like. He's threatening to impeach judges who rule against him. And he's usurping the powers of the United States Congress.

This guy wants all of the power. He does not believe in the Constitution. He does not believe in the rule of law. My understanding is that the governor of California, the mayor of the city of Los Angeles did not request the National Guard. But he thinks he has a right to do anything he wants.

And I would say that, to a large degree, the future of this country rests with a small number of Republicans in the House and Senate who know better, who do know what the Constitution is about. And it's high time they stood up for our Constitution and the rule of law.

We just celebrated a few days ago, June 6, the American landing at Normandy, which began the invasion of Europe to defeat fascism and Nazism. Those guys died, they gave up their lives to defend democracy, not to have an all-powerful ruler in the United States of America.

[09:10:13]

BASH: Senator, you mentioned, on a very different topic, whether Republicans would stand up to the president.

There definitely is some clashing politically internally among Republicans on the president's legislative agenda, specifically the giant spending and tax bill before the United States Senate. In order to try to fix some of those internal GOP differences, Senate Republicans are eying changes to Medicare.

We know there are also $700 billion worth of cuts in the existing bill to Medicaid. Is there anything that you and Democrats can do to stop it, since you just don't have the votes?

SANDERS: Well, let's be clear, Dana. What these guys want to do is, according to the CBO, throw 15 million Americans off the health care they now have, on top of the 85 million Americans who are currently uninsured or underinsured, and on top of the fact that we are the only major country on Earth not to guarantee health care to all people.

As you may have seen, there was a report, a study done by Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania. They said 50,000 people a year are going to die, are going to die because of their lack of health care.

This impacts not only individuals. It impacts nursing homes, hospitals. It will impact community health centers. And you know why they are doing this? They are doing this so they can give $600 billion in tax breaks to the top 1 percent, $400 billion in tax breaks to large profitable corporations.

This bill is an outrage. And the American people have got to stand up and fight back. You're asking what we are doing. We are mobilizing people throughout this country, especially in marginal districts that have Republican members of Congress, and demand that people ask their members of Congress, do you support tax breaks for billionaires and throwing kids and elderly people off of the health care that they have?

BASH: So you were talking mostly about Medicaid, which is already in this bill, those cuts that you were describing.

One of the issues is Medicare, whether or not there will be changes in order for the Republicans to get votes among them -- amongst themselves. Medicare is one of the biggest drivers of federal spending. Are you concerned about America's runaway national debt and would changes to entitlements like Medicare be necessary to try to rein that in?

SANDERS: Dana, Dana, Dana, let's talk about health care for a moment.

As I hope most people know, not only are we the only major country on Earth not to guarantee health care to all people. We are spending over twice as much per capita on health care as the people of any other country. The function of the American health care system is to make huge profits for the insurance companies and the drug companies.

And if the Republicans are serious about cutting health care costs, you don't throw people off of Medicaid or Medicare. You have the guts to take on the insurance companies, who are ripping off the American people every single day. We're spending $14,500 per person on health care, outrageous, unsustainable, by far the highest prices in the world.

But the Republicans would rather throw people off of Medicare, children off of Medicaid, rather than take on the insurance companies or the power of the drug companies.

BASH: Senator, I want to ask you about a situation, a drama that really sort of engulfed everyone and everything here in Washington, which is the breakup between Donald Trump and Elon Musk this week.

Some Democrats are trying to recruit Musk to their side, to your side. Semafor reported that Congressman Ro Khanna spoke with one of Elon Musk's senior confidants about whether Musk might want to help Democrats in the midterms. Do you see Elon Musk as someone who Democrats should work with?

SANDERS: No, I think Musk has evolved over the years. My understanding is, he actually voted for Obama, I think, in 2008. But over the years, he has developed into a right-wing extremist.

The issue and I think the drama, the story of what happened last week is, you are living increasingly in an oligarchic society. And Musk said to Trump, hey, listen, I spent $270 million to get you elected. I bought you the presidency, because we have a corrupt campaign finance system and billionaires can do that.

And Trump said, well, I gave you the right to run the government for three or four months, but I don't like the guy you want to run NASA, and we're going to get rid of him. And Musk got upset.

This is a fight between oligarchs. It's a fight among power among the few. And it's really an embarrassment to those of us who believe in democracy and the rule of law.

[09:15:09]

BASH: Well, I was going to ask you if Musk is right when he said the only reason Donald Trump won in November is because he donated $270 million to his campaign. But I know the answer. Your answer is yes.

SANDERS: Well, you have got a corrupt campaign finance system.

But, by the way, it's not just Republicans. Democratic billionaires do that as well. That's why we need to get rid of this disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision, move the public funding of elections, so that billionaires do not buy our democracy.

BASH: Senator Bernie Sanders, always good to see you. Thank you so much for coming on this morning, sir.

SANDERS: Thank you very much.

BASH: And much more ahead on the latest in Los Angeles, including a stunning warning from the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth.

And then lashing out, deleting tweets. Turns out the world's richest and most powerful men, are they just like us? Hmm. A senator close to President Trump will talk about this with us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:20:16]

BASH: President Trump is deploying 2,000 National Guard troops to California amid protests over his immigration raids, just the latest huge development in a week that saw the president having a big falling out with the person who was his closest political ally, the richest man in the world.

Here with me now is another Trump close ally, Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma.

Senator, thank you so much for being here. Starting with what's happening in California, the last...

MULLIN: Dana, thanks for having me on.

BASH: Thank you.

The last time the National Guard was federalized was 1992 during the L.A. riots. Then, it was done at the governor's request. In fact, the president hasn't unilaterally federalized the National Guard since LBJ sent troops to Alabama in 1965 to protect civil rights marchers. That's according to the Brennan Center.

So my question for you is, why does this situation justify the president bypassing California's governor entirely?

MULLIN: Well, you got two issues here. You have a very weak, lawless- leaning governor in Governor Newsom, who's not enforcing the nation's laws. And then you had a Biden administration for the last four years that didn't enforce our immigration laws, which is why we need to pass this one big, beautiful bill, so we can secure our border and focus on getting these illegals out of the country.

Regardless of what they may be doing right now, they enter the country illegally, and therefore they are illegal and they are criminals and they need to be deported. And I don't know why a governor would want to try to protect illegal activity inside his state.

And the president has made it very clear, if the governor or the mayor of the city isn't willing to protect the citizens of his state or the city, then the president will. He -- the American people elected him to restore the law and order back to the -- back to our streets, and that's why murders are down.

That's why people are optimistic today about the future of our country. And that's why we need to continue this step by passing one big, beautiful bill.

BASH: Senator, the L.A. County police say that they have it under control, and Governor Newsom says sending National Guard...

MULLIN: Well, it looked like that, right? We saw the videos.

BASH: Governor Newsom says that the National Guard, at least sending them, is purposely inflaming and will only escalate tensions there.

MULLIN: Well, words are cheap, especially when you got video. And so you asked me, did it look like it was under -- or I will ask you, did it look like it was under control?

It doesn't. It is absolutely not in control. You saw rioters throwing rocks, throwing fireworks, being extremely aggressive towards not just federal agents, but even the county and the local P.D. that was there. So does it look like it's under control? Absolutely not.

The difference between what you're seeing during the riots back in, what was it, '96 -- I forget what year it was.

BASH: Ninety-two.

MULLIN: To what we are today -- '92 to where we are today is that the governor was actually working with the president of the United States. Now you have a governor that isn't.

And, once again, California became basically a sanctuary state. And the American people don't want that. And that's why -- that's why President Trump is pushing really hard for us to pass this bill, because it will secure the border and we can start importing these illegals.

I mean, think about this. They were literally out there protesting, carrying a foreign flag. That is absolutely insane. I mean, they're not just peaceful protesters. These are illegals. These are exactly why the president is trying to secure our border.

BASH: All right, well, carrying a flag is not illegal, as you know.

And I just want to be clear. I just want to be...

MULLIN: A foreign flag while you're attacking -- while you're attacking law enforcement, it's pretty bad.

BASH: That's a different question.

But I just -- I just want to just state for the record that what did happen in 1992 was so different from what we're seeing now. I mean, that was a real -- a real riot that went all across the city of Los Angeles after a verdict in the Rodney King case.

This is a situation where the L.A. County -- L.A. County police, it's not good, but they're saying that they have it under control, and the president is sending national troops, federal troops, in a way that hasn't been done in a long time.

(CROSSTALK)

MULLIN: We can look at this and we can obviously see that it is not under control. It's not under control. You and I both can see that. It's not under control.

BASH: Let's...

MULLIN: And a riot is a riot. They're throwing -- they're throwing all types of objects at law enforcement. And the president is absolutely right.

I can't say this enough. This is why the American people elected President Trump, because we are moving in the right direction. And we are laser-focused on continuing to do that. And that is why we want to pass this big piece of legislation that is going to move the American -- the American people even farther down the track in getting us back on track and getting us away from the disastrous policies of the Biden administration.

[09:25:09]

BASH: Yes, so let's talk about that bill, sir. You're talking about the important, very important piece of the president's agenda, his big legislation that is before you in the Senate right now.

There are several Senate Republicans, your GOP colleagues, who say that they're concerned that the Medicaid cuts in the bill will jeopardize funding for rural hospitals. Almost one in four people in your state of Oklahoma rely on Medicaid.

The head of the Oklahoma Hospital Association says that these cuts could lead to some hospitals failing or forcing them to scale back services they provide. Does that concern you?

MULLIN: Let's talk about what we're actually doing, because Bernie Sanders and the Democrat Party, they're absolutely lying about us kicking people off.

BASH: These are Republicans, not Bernie Sanders.

MULLIN: We're not kicking people off that deserve -- hold on.

We're not talking about people that are -- that deserve and qualify for Medicaid or Medicare. What we're doing is getting rid of the waste and fraud. There's only -- over six million people on Medicaid right now that do not qualify underneath current policies. They don't -- they didn't qualify underneath the Biden policies, but yet the Biden administration allowed them to come on.

And they're robbing Medicaid blind. And, therefore, it's almost becoming unsustainable for those that actually deserve it. Anybody that qualifies for Medicaid, they're not going to see a reduction in benefits. They're not going to see a reduction in coverage.

All we're doing is removing the people that are frauding the American taxpayers out of health care. That's it. And no one can say anything different. President Trump has made it very clear we're not reducing or cutting Medicaid benefits.

BASH: But, Senator, a lot of Republicans...

MULLIN: The Republicans have said the same thing. We're removing the waste and fraud.

BASH: Senator, I'm sorry. A lot of Republicans who you serve with who are like-minded in many ways, they don't agree with you. They're reading the same bill, and they say, we believe that there are people in our state who will get hurt because of these cuts. They will get kicked off of Medicaid or at least their benefits will be diminished.

MULLIN: No, I have talked to -- I have talked to Josh Hawley, who is very outspoken about this. I have got a great relationship with Josh. Josh is doing exactly what he should be doing. He's protecting to make sure that those that need it are protected from it.

There's nothing wrong with him questioning the bill. The fact is, you can't point to anyone that's losing coverage that deserves and qualifies for the care. But he's being very cautious. And I respect him for doing that.

But we have made it very clear and the president has made it clear we're not kicking people off that qualify for Medicare and Medicaid coverage. We're just getting rid of the waste and fraud. You can read it yourself. Dana, I bet you have read it, and you can't find where we're reducing

coverage for anybody. We are simply kicking the waste and fraud out of the Medicaid and Medicare system that are literally robbing the taxpayers, the American people.

BASH: OK. I mean, if this passes the way it does, I would be interested in coming back to you and talking to you about what happens in the rural hospitals in your state that you have worked so hard to protect.

MULLIN: Sure.

BASH: I do want to ask you about...

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: I want to ask you about this blow-up between President Trump and Elon Musk, the world's richest man, the president of the United States trading insults online kind of like teenagers.

According to "The Washington Post," there was an argument earlier this year between Musk and the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, literally came to blows. It had to be broken up.

Are the men leading our country letting their emotions get in the way of governing?

MULLIN: Well, first of all, Dana, as a former professional fighter, I have learned a long time ago don't get between two fighters.

The fact is, we're focused on passing this bill. And the American people elected President Trump and put the Republican people in place to move our country forward and get away from the disastrous policies of the Biden administration and move forward. That's what we're focused on.

BASH: So, don't get in the way? You're not picking sides?

MULLIN: We're not going to be distracted. We're not going to run a rabbit trail. We're going to be focused on it.

Sorry?

BASH: Don't get in the way? You're not picking sides?

MULLIN: President Trump is a friend of mine, but I don't need to get -- I can have friends that have disagreements.

But here's what I do know. My wife and I dearly love each other, and every now and then -- well, actually quite often sometimes -- she disagrees with me, but that doesn't mean that we can't stay focused on what's best for our family.

BASH: OK.

MULLIN: Right now, there may be a disagreement, but we're laser- focused on what's best for the American people.

BASH: OK, Senator, thank you so much. We're out of time. I appreciate you being on with me this morning.

MULLIN: Thank you for having me on.

BASH: And my next guest is a Republican who sees things a bit differently from Senator Mullin. Could enough Republicans side with Elon Musk on the substance of this bill?

[09:30:07]

We will talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Welcome back to State Of The Union.

My next guest has been one of the most ardent GOP critics of President Trump's tax and spending cut bill.

Here with me now is Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.

Senator, I want to get to that in one second, but I do want to ask about what's going on in California, the president deploying 2,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles, against the wishes of California's governor.

His defense secretary says active-duty Marines may also be mobilized. And during the 2020 George Floyd protests, you supported governors using the National Guard to maintain order, but you did warn -- quote -- "You really don't want to send in the U.S. military."

[09:35:14]

Would President Trump deploying active-duty troops cross that line?

JOHNSON: Well, good morning, Dana.

Well, first of all, we have the experience in Wisconsin where Governor Evers refused to call the National Guard, and he let Kenosha burn. And then President Trump sent in the National Guard and Kenosha stopped burning. So the reason you send in massive manpower is to prevent violence.

What we're seeing in California is violent. And, unfortunately, you don't have leaders in California that are willing to prevent violence and protect federal law enforcement. This is all about protecting law enforcement as they go about their very difficult and very dangerous job.

So I completely support President Trump in doing this, because he does not have a partner in Governor Newsom or the mayor.

BASH: So there's the National Guard, federalizing the National Guard. And then there's a separate question, which has not happened, but the defense secretary tweeted holding out the possibility of Marines going in, active-duty Marines, to be mobilized. You would be OK with that?

JOHNSON: Well, my guess is, the National Guard ought to take care of the situation. That's what we did here in Wisconsin, Kenosha. Once they were deployed here, the violence ended.

So, again, you provide massive manpower to prevent violence. And it would be nice if a Democrat politicians wouldn't keep stirring it up and keep asking people to go out there and protest against lawful law enforcement actions. That's kind of hard to stomach.

BASH: So, the Marines, you don't think, should go in, or you don't -- you're saying you don't think it would be necessary?

JOHNSON: It won't be necessary. Bring the National Guard. That's what happened here in Wisconsin. And it worked.

I'm quite sure it'll work in California.

BASH: You are, as I mentioned, one of the leading GOP holdouts on President Trump's tax and spending cut bill. It does include billions of dollars to improve border barriers, to expand immigration enforcement, the kind of thing that we're seeing in California and elsewhere.

You just heard Senator Mullin say the situation in California shows the need to pass the bill quickly. Do you agree?

JOHNSON: Well, first of all, Republicans are having to clean up the enormous messes left behind by President Biden, the open border -- that's what's happening in California there -- and, of course, the massive deficit spending, which sparked 40-year-high inflation. It's not easy.

It's easy to be a Democrat, just spend money, mortgage our kids' future, promise people, never deliver on the promises, never get held accountable by the media. So it's easy to be a Democrat. It's pretty hard doing what we're trying to do.

So I'm a big supporter of President Trump. He's doing things that no other president would do that need to be done. As far as it goes, I'm a supporter of what's in the big, beautiful bill. My problem is, it's just -- because ti so hard, it's not going far enough. And if we just pass this, if it's a one-and-done, we will not be really addressing the major problem here in terms of massive growing deficits and debt.

BASH: Not going far enough in that, right? You're not going far enough in cutting spending? So -- but you do want to increase the spending on border and immigration enforcement?

JOHNSON: Right. Yes, that's the top priority of government is to protect Americans, to defend our border, defend our nation.

So, unfortunately, the Democrats opened up the border, let millions of people flood into this country, some of them violent criminals, violent gang members, members of transnational criminal organizations, human drug and sex traffickers. That's what President Trump is having to deal with.

That's what Democrats left for us. So, again, that takes money. And, unfortunately, they also pretty well mortgaged our children's future with massive deficits. President Biden had an average deficit of $1.9 trillion. Obama, his last term, $550 billion average deficits. Trump had to do deals with Democrats, 810.

Then, of course, we had the massive bipartisan spending spree in 2020, but we should have come down to a reasonable pre-pandemic level of spending and deficits. We didn't do that. The Democrats and President Biden just continued to spend. And, again, now it's completely out of control.

We can't accept this as a new normal.

BASH: You are -- our understanding, Senate Republicans are considering changes to Medicare to offset some of the costs on the spending and tax cut bill. We're talking, of course, about a program used by more than 68 million Americans, most of them seniors.

Is that something that you are in fact working on?

JOHNSON: What we are trying to do is take a look at the abuses of the system that put at risk the benefits for the people who truly deserve them.

For example, there was a great article in "The Wall Street Journal" written by a father of a 17-year-old autistic child who's on a 10-year waiting list for home care because he's being crowded out by single, working-age, able-bodied, childless adults.

That's what Obamacare did. And, by the way, that's -- the part of Medicaid we're trying to reform is the Obamacare portion. Now they call it Medicaid Advantage. For every dollar the state puts into a procedure for a disabled child, the federal government kicks in $1.33.

[09:40:18]

BASH: Yes. So, that's Medicaid. What about Medicare?

JOHNSON: For every dollar that the state puts in for a -- no, no, but, listen, because this is important.

BASH: OK.

JOHNSON: For every dollar the state puts in for a single adult childless, the government puts in nine -- the federal government puts in nine bucks.

That has led to all kinds of waste and abuse. There's upcoding inside of Medicare, which also is putting at threat the benefits for people that need it. So, again, there is all kinds of waste, fraud and abuse in these programs. That's what Republicans are trying to root out. That's what President Trump is willing to do.

Democrats, of course, don't care. They just don't care about spending money and mortgaging our kids' future. This is hard, what we're trying to do. I think, in good faith, we're trying to work together, but it's very difficult.

BASH: Before I let you go, you have had some pretty harsh words about this bill.

You sound like you're warming to it as you have conversations. Is that a fair assessment?

JOHNSON: No, I have had harsh words about the fact that we're mortgaging our' kids future, that we have incurred on average $1.9 trillion deficits and we're going to incur another $22 trillion deficits over the next 10 years, and that's probably a rosy scenario.

I have had harsh words for our current situation. And my only problem with this bill is, it just doesn't go far enough to address that big mess.

BASH: And you're feeling like you're in a better situation with it now, based on the talks that you have had at the White House and elsewhere?

JOHNSON: Well, nothing's really changed. I will be sitting down with the White House economic team.

BASH: OK.

JOHNSON: I'm going to be -- I'm finished -- finishing up a report. I will be issuing that next week that lays out exactly what this is, gives different growth scenarios, showing how difficult it is going to be to grow our way out of this.

I'm all for economic growth. We have to address spending.

BASH: Thank you.

JOHNSON: We don't have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem. And this bill just doesn't go far enough to address that problem.

BASH: Thank you so much for being here, Senator. I really appreciate it.

JOHNSON: Have a good day.

BASH: And coming up: The president has long been looking to punish California. Is that what's happening now?

My panel joins me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:46:58]

BASH: Welcome back to STATE OF THE UNION.

My panel is here with me now. Bakari, I will start with you. The takeaway from what we are seeing in

California in particular and what we're probably going to see as these federal National Guard troops get to L.A.?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, first of all, I think that you can't look at what's happening in California in a vacuum.

This behavior by the president of the United States, this move towards authoritarianism, you have to look at it and the attacks on journalism, the attacks on law firms, the attacks on judges throughout the country, the attacks on higher education, none of these things are happening in a vacuum.

And if you look at it in the totality, you see that we're drifting towards authoritarianism. Now, I find it a great bit ironic that there are people who have for -- pro-free speech and then had a problem with people who are protesting. No one around this panel, no Democrat in the country, I will not sit here and say that violence is OK or violence against law enforcement is OK.

But what's rich is when you have people like Ron Johnson or Senator Mullin come on TV and talk about protecting law enforcement, but didn't say a doggone thing when we were pardoning those individuals on January 6 who assaulted law enforcement officers.

So let's have a little balance in this discussion, is all I ask.

BASH: Congresswoman?

REP. NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS (R-NY): Well, I did say something actually when those individuals were pardoned. I was critical of that decision as well.

But what I will say is, you had Bernie Sanders on talking about rule of law and criticizing the president, at the same time where you're seeing this lawlessness taking place in California and the president sending in National Guards to stop it.

You have seen ICE agents attacked. You have seen their cars put on fire, stones thrown at them. This is unacceptable. And you're also talking about enforcement of our immigration laws. The president over the last 24 hours or last couple of days, about 118 individuals in Los Angeles, these were gang members. These were drug traffickers, human smugglers, people who committed robbery, child abuse, sex offense, the worst of the worst.

These are not good people.

BASH: Are we sure that they weren't just workers?

MALLIOTAKIS: Well, that's what the reporting says, 118 individuals, and among them -- I assume they were all criminals. It was only 118.

But the bottom line is, that's what his intent is. And that's what he's going after. And the fact that, look, we would not have the situation in Los Angeles if it were not that they had the sanctuary status that refuses cooperation with ICE agents.

It makes it more dangerous for everyone, the agents and the community, when the ICE agents have to go in there and find these criminals, instead of the city and state turning them over.

XOCHITL HINOJOSA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it was also children and mothers. And there's video of violence against these mothers and small children. And the videos are terrible.

What I will say is, it is a president's responsibility to de-escalate a situation any time there is violence in our country. And they should work with local law enforcement to do that. What happened here is, sending in the National Guard only escalates it. Hegseth saying that he wants to send in the Marines that are equipped for war only escalates it. Arresting the president of SEIU and going in and conducting raids only escalates it.

[09:50:01]

The interesting part about this is, the Department of Justice would normally go in through the Community Relations Service. They did this with George Floyd. They have done this with a whole bunch of other instances where they go in and they work with state and local law enforcement to de-escalate what is happening instead, before sending in the National Guard or anything like that.

The problem here is that Trump essentially fired everyone in the Community Relations Service.

(CROSSTALK)

HINOJOSA: He did. I worked there.

(CROSSTALK)

HINOJOSA: No, no, no, no.

MALLIOTAKIS: The problem is...

(CROSSTALK)

MALLIOTAKIS: ... the state is not cooperating.

HINOJOSA: No, no, no.

MALLIOTAKIS: That's the problem.

HINOJOSA: There is -- the federal government's role is to help state and local law enforcement to de-escalate. He essentially got rid of all of those employees, because he does not believe in civil rights, and, instead, he's escalating it by sending in the National Guard.

MALLIOTAKIS: I'm sorry. There's ICE raids because the city and state law enforcement will not cooperate to turn over those dangerous individuals. That's why. So if you see other people getting caught up in the mix, it's because they're there. They're here illegally. And they're with the criminals at the same time.

HINOJOSA: But what about the moms...

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: Let's get Kristen in here.

KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Let's remember five years ago.

I think that it must be top of mind for Donald Trump, because he was president the last time that we had American cities experiencing protests, strongly held views over a very important issue where some protesters turned violent.

And I think Donald Trump looked at that summer and said, I let these blue state governors and blue state mayors handle the situation and it got out of hand, and I'm not doing that again.

And I think he also feels that because immigration is the issue on which he polls the best, where median voters are the most with him, that he feels he has a lot of latitude to do a lot of things that he did not do five years ago. And that is why the situation is getting escalated.

SELLERS: I think that also he finds a adversary that he wants to punch, and that is Gavin Newsom. I think he sees Gavin Newsom, and Gavin Newsom gets under his skin.

I think Gavin Newsom also lacks a level of self-awareness and is not the best governor in the world, but that's a whole different story. That's just my critique of him. But these two men have an ego problem which we're seeing play out in the streets of California right now. So that's first.

Second, I want every criminal who is here illegally to be deported, period. But I also want us, if we're going to have an immigration crackdown, what about these employers? What about these agricultural centers in Georgia or Florida or Alabama or these red states that are knowingly employing illegal immigrants that are coming in here?

What about these employers that are going unchecked? No Republican is talking about this, not one.

MALLIOTAKIS: Well, we had a piece of legislation that would implement E-Verify.

And, look, I think at the end of the day the focus now has to be deporting these individuals who are in the country that Joe Biden let in that were being housed at taxpayer expense in New York City in many cases, criminals, real hard criminals, get them out of the country first, secure the border which we're doing, and then we could talk about immigration reform in a commonsense manner, where we can have people who are coming forward.

SELLERS: But the common sense is giving people who are here illegally a pathway to citizenship.

MALLIOTAKIS: Yes, you have got to secure the border first.

SELLERS: The common sense is strengthening the border and making sure that we have an asylum process that works, that's free and fair.

What is not -- what I don't like and what I have a problem with is when you have images of women and children -- you have children in immigration court.

HINOJOSA: Absolutely.

SELLERS: I mean, that's not what America is.

HINOJOSA: Yes, absolutely.

And not only that. He's also targeting legal immigration, people who are here legally through TPS and other things...

SELLERS: Right.

HINOJOSA: ... and going straight to the Supreme Court trying to rescind Biden era policies so that he can deport as many people as possible.

And these aren't necessarily violent criminals. These are people here who have family members who want a better life.

BASH: Final quick word?

SOLTIS ANDERSON: Yes, I think that, on this, this is an issue where Donald Trump believes that deportations are not something where he's going to see political backlash.

And if it's moving attention away from something like the tariffs, the economy, an issue that is not going as well for him...

SELLERS: We didn't even talk about Elon Musk.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: There's always next week.

All right, thanks to you guys. I appreciate it.

MALLIOTAKIS: He may try to deport him next.

(LAUGHTER)

BASH: We will be right back. Hold that thought.

(LAUGHTER)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [09:57:26]

BASH: Thank you so much for spending your Sunday morning with us.

Stay tuned for Fareed Zakaria, who picks it up next.