Return to Transcripts main page
CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip
Protests Against Trump's Immigration Raids Spread in U.S.; LAPD Declares Unlawful Assembly Outside City Hall; Calls Grow Louder Against ICE Raids of Workplaces, Homes. "NewsNight" Tackles On-Going Protests in Los Angeles; Trump and Melania Booed At "Les Miserables" Opening Night. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired June 11, 2025 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Tonight, CNN's on the scene. Plus, live at the table Bakari Sellers, Batya Ungar-Sargon, Abel Maldonado, Karen Finney and Kmele Foster.
Americans with different perspectives aren't talking to each other, but here, they do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP (on camera): Good evening. I'm Abby Phillip in New York with some breaking news tonight. A curfew will soon begin in parts of downtown Los Angeles for a second night in a row, as the city is reeling from a sixth straight day of clashes over President Trump's ICE raids. Just moments ago, the LAPD declared an unlawful protest outside of City Hall.
Now, remember, about 2,000 National Guard members are on the ground in Los Angeles with another 2,000 on the way. Right now we are seeing similar protests picking up steam again across the United States in New York, Texas, and North Carolina as well.
But let's get straight to CNN's Nick Watt, who's live outside of City Hall in L.A. Nick, what are you seeing there?
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Abby, what has happened is the police have moved the protesters away from City Hall. Police officers mounted on horseback with batons raised moved the protesters up into this little park where they are now. The protesters are carrying signs, get ICE out of L.A., get the troops out of L.A. They've been chanting at the police, shame, shame, shame, shame.
Look, we're seeing another phalanx of police officers coming up here now armed with non-lethal, less lethal weapons moving into try and, I suppose, disperse what they call an unlawful gathering now. I've also seen signs amongst the protesters saying protesting is not illegal. But, clearly, they do not want the protesters that close to City Hall. Again, important to note, these are all LAPD. These are not National Guard. These are not federal. These are local Los Angeles Police force. And right now, they have the protesters pegged up there.
Now, as you mentioned, the curfew is due to kick in 8:00 P.M. local time. That's 11:00 P.M. on the East Coast. What we saw last night when the curfew kicked in was the LAPD very methodically, very slowly moved in and did begin making arrests.
They -- yes, yes, yes, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.
So, the police are asking us now to move even further back. They've been -- this has been a constant, all day of them moving us out the way. So, let's just come back down here just a little bit.
So, as you see, we're now shooting straight into the sun, so it's very difficult for you to see what's going on here, Abby. But right now, more LAPD officers just massing, facing off against these protesters.
So far today, the protests have been pretty calm. There has not been violence. The police are clearly getting a little anxious. I just saw a police officer about five minutes ago when we were walking up here. There was a man on a bicycle who went under a police line, not in a threatening manner. The police officer pulled him off the bicycle, threw him to the ground. As you can see up here, Jerry, we've got more police vehicles waiting, more officers waiting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Move below the stairs.
WATT: I mean, okay. We've listened to everything that you've said, okay? We've listened to everything you've said. Okay. So, again, the police don't appear to know where they want us to be because they keep on telling us to move, just another sign of just the kind of anxiety levels that have risen here.
Okay. This whole phalanx is now moving in as we are getting pushed further back. There's no point in arguing with the police at this point. We'll just do what we're told and stand back here.
So, yes, Abby, basically we're just waiting to see what happens here. It seems like a face-off. There are police officers on foot, on horseback, just facing up against the protesters. Back to you.
PHILLIP: All right, Nick. Well, we'll keep an eye on that and we'll be back to you this hour.
[22:05:00]
Let's go now to New York City, where CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is downtown. Shimon, what's happening tonight? Last night was a bit of a scene as you were in the middle of these protests. How are things going today?
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: It's not as -- let's say, there isn't as much chaos tonight, but there's certainly are pockets of it. And we're sort of in the same area we were last night with you we're just on the other side now on Broadway.
And I just want to show you what's happening. I mean, we've been out here now for about five hours. These are the NYPD officers. They've been out here just as long as we've been out here. And now, basically, what's been happening, I'm going to have Emilio (ph) turn around here and show you, there are some protesters that still remain. This is very much a smaller group than what we saw earlier tonight. They have now essentially just stopped here on the sidewalk.
It's kind of sometimes a confrontation with police at times, trying to bait the police and then the police would come in onto the sidewalk and threaten and arrest. And then it's actually been remarkable to watch as the bosses, the white shirt, the chiefs and the lieutenants and the captains move in and try to deescalate, tell the officers, move back, let's go, let's move out and make sure that they don't make an arrest and they want to deescalate. And that's kind of in the back and forth here tonight.
As we were out here last night, this area is so significant because this is where the ICE offices are. The New York City ICE offices, this is where they detain people that they take into custody. And what happened earlier was one of the vans came out, it was empty, but they didn't know that it's a prisoner van, and the group started chasing after the van, and then the NYPD moved in. And the van wound up leaving. But that's been kind of what's been happening here over the course of the past several days.
But for now, we're just at this standoff here. The police are allowing them to remain on the sidewalk, and we'll see. At some point, they're going to have to leave, as we saw last night. So, let's see how this develops here as well.
PHILLIP: All right. Shimon, thank you very much for that reporting. We'll be back with you as well as the night continues.
Tonight's curfew impacts a very small pocket of downtown Los Angeles where the protests have been concentrated all week, but that didn't stop President Trump from once again painting the situation in a very different light.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I'm very proud to have helped Los Angeles survive. Los Angeles right now, if we didn't do what we did, would be burning to the ground. And that's not over yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: That was the president earlier tonight as he entered the Kennedy Center for a performance.
Meanwhile, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass is pushing back strongly on that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR KAREN BASS (D-LOS ANGELES, CA): 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)
PHILLIP: All right. We're here in the studio with our panel. I mean, Bakari, there is -- Trump wants to take credit for nothing really happening, except for protests and arrests. But the reality is that, you know, what's been going on in Los Angeles is largely due to law enforcement, LAPD. They've been doing their jobs. The military's not even there, really. They're not doing anything, according to the police chief who spoke to CNN tonight.
BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think what you see tonight is a collaborative effort by the NYPD and the LAPD in trying to make sure that they allow these protesters to have their voices heard, that there's no violence, that there's no looting, that they're confined to one particular area. And then when the protest time has reached this maximum conclusion, they go home and disperse.
And so in L.A., you're talking about since June 6th, there have been 339 citizens arrested. Only about 113 people had criminal records. And so the protest that you're hearing, the voices that you're hearing from people are about those mothers or about those children, or about those people who make our lives run every single day who are not criminals, because no one will sit up here and tell you that if you committed a crime, you shouldn't be deported, but those individuals who are part of the fabric of our lives. And this is Trump's America, and that's what we're seeing.
And one of the things that I want to hear from my Republican colleagues is, look, Trump is talking about ICE raids in Philadelphia next, and Detroit Next and Chicago next. But what about those plants that we know are bringing in illegal immigrants in Arkansas? What about those plants in South Carolina with Governor Henry McMaster, or those agricultural facilities in Brian Kemp's Georgia? I mean, are we really cracking down on immigration or illegal immigration, or are you trying to pit Americans against each other? Because that's what we're seeing on T.V., it's black versus brown. It's immigrant versus citizen, it's east versus west. This is Donald Trump's America, and I think people are fighting back against that.
PHILLIP: Republican friends, you want to answer?
[22:10:00]
LT. GOV. ABEL MALDONADO (D-CA): I'm the friend, right, Bakari?
PHILLIP: You are the friend.
(CROSSTALKS)
MALDONADO: Well, first of all, you know when you hear that they're going after these facilities in Georgia and in South Carolina --
SELLERS: They're not. They're not. MALDONADO: -- or these farmers or these big corporate farmers, people don't realize that of all the undocumented population in America today, what percent is in agriculture? Do you know that, Bakari?
SELLERS: Tell me. Educate me.
MALDONADO: It's 4 percent. 4 percent, not too many --
SELLERS: I was going to say five, but okay.
MALDONADO: I've been in Manhattan here for a couple of days. I don't see any farms here. I don't see any farms in Philadelphia. I don't see any farms in downtown L.A. So, the concentration of undocumented people are in big cities. They're in Los Angeles or in Chicago.
And to see President Trump -- frankly, he just doesn't trust Gavin Newsom to do a good job, and that's why he sent the National Guard.
PHILLIP: I don't know that it's -- I mean, I'm sure he doesn't trust Gavin Newsom, but it also seems like a attempt to make California into a symbol of an attempt to kind of go after the liberal establishment.
MALDONADO: So, they're not --
KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But this is a pattern we have seen over and over again. Let's go after Harvard. Let's go after a blue city. blue state, where basically he's saying he doesn't trust the LAPD, let's be very clear. And I think they did -- having been in L.A. during the 92 riots, they did an excellent job.
MALDONADO: I think he doesn't trust Gavin Newsom, Karen. He just --
FINNEY: Well, you can have that opinion, but now I'm going to say my opinion, which is, part of -- I think it's important to remember, part of the reason that we're here, to what Bakari was saying, is because Donald Trump misled the American people. He said during the campaign it was going to be about violent criminals.
MALDONADO: No, I disagree with that.
FINNEY: No, no, no. Let me finish. We are seeing people come out all over the country. We saw a group of, frankly, Trump folks when a waitress in Minnesota, who's part of the community, been there for 15 years, been taken in by ICE. And the community said, wait a second. She's not a violent criminal. She's here --
MALDONADO: How is that Trump?
FINNEY: But that's what he said. He told us one thing and he's doing another.
MALDONADO: They should be in the halls in Washington protesting the Congress. People haven't done their job.
FINNEY: But you know what? How about --
SELLERS: I agree.
MALDONADO: Republicans and Democrats have not done their job. They're throwing rocks at police officers because Congress hasn't done their job.
FINNEY: Well, how about -- well, Congress had an opportunity to do the job last year. Who said, walk away from the deal? That was Donald Trump.
MALDONADO: That was an amnesty bill. Amnesty is not on the table. It's never going to be on the table under Donald Trump.
FINNEY: That was a bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform.
PHILLIP: Go ahead, Batya.
BATYA UNGAR-SARGON, AUTHOR,, SECOND CLASS, HOW THE ELITES BETRAYED AMERICA'S WORKING MEN AND WOMEN: You know, I hear this talking point a lot from Democrats that Donald Trump misled the American people and somehow said he was only going to deport violent criminals.
FINNEY: He said he was going to prioritize violent criminals.
UNGAR-SARGON: At every single rally that I watched, he said, we are going to have the largest deportation operation in American history. And the reason he did that is because that position has majority support with the American people, and that position is what got him the majority of working class people, because immigration is a topic that divides the working class from the elites. The elites are the consumers of low wage labor.
And when you guys say they're taking people from the community, what you mean is they're taking people from the workforce, people who undercut the wages of American workers, which is why the working class flipped from the Democrats to Republicans.
I just want to make one more point. I want to make one more point. Let make one more point.
SELLERS: We're 43-54 day on immigration, okay?
UNGAR-SARGON: Let make one more point.
SELLERS: He's underwater on immigration.
UNGAR-SARGON: 57 percent of Americans want every single illegal migrant deported.
PHILLIP: Who is that according to?
UNGAR-SARGON: 57 -- first of all, CNN itself had a poll that had it at 54 4 percent.
PHILLIP: Hold on a second.
UNGAR-SARGON: CBS had that poll two days ago. PHILLIP: I'm not attacking you, I'm just simply asking you.
UNGAR-SARGON: So, CNN had it at 54 percent. CBS had it at 57 percent.
PHILLIP: From when? Because the reason I'm asking is because Bakari is citing a poll that we have out today that was done literally in the last couple of days, and it does show Trump underwater on immigration, which is not -- hold on a second, which is not typical. Let me just -- just a second, not typical, right? Trump typically has support on immigration. He was elected on that issue. You're totally right. This one poll, it's not the whole picture.
SELLERS: It's a snapshot of time.
PHILLIP: It's just a snapshot of time. And -- right, okay. This one poll has, it has him at 56 percent on deportations disapprove, 54 percent disapprove on immigration issues.
Now, I think we need a lot more data points, but I think we can all agree that it is also possible that many Americans -- first of all, there is overwhelming support for deporting people who are criminals, who have criminal records. But when you start to do that, but there's a lot of polling that suggest that when you start to get into the nitty-gritty detail of who some of these people are, it becomes much more complicated for many Americans.
Now, I do want to kind of get back to the protests here for just a second because, you know, one of the issues with Trump is not just the immigration issue, because that's what they're protesting, but he's also sort of on a campaign against protesters, in general.
[22:15:02]
And I think that that has been part of the tenor of this conversation this week.
KMELE FOSTER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, TANGLE: Well, I think a lot of this is theater, part of the reason why he seems to be going after a more diverse array of undocumented persons in the country is precisely because I guess there's just no place where he can go round up a bunch of MS-13 members and put them all on a bus, in which case, you need to make a show. So, you show up at the Home Depot and you pick up the guys who I suspect some of the people at this table have at some point hired to do work in their homes.
I don't know that those people are actually stealing jobs from anyone. I think, in general, you know, the economy seems to work fine. A lot of those people are here trying to make lives for themselves. And seeing displays of those kinds of people who are, you know, picking up a kid from school or dropping them off and then getting picked up by ICE agents can be a bit radicalizing.
SELLERS: I wanted to -- go ahead, finish your thought. I'm sorry, I didn't interrupt.
FOSTER: One other thing I'd say though is that some of the responses, however, to the things that the Trump administration have done have also been inflammatory. I think when Gavin Newsom suggests that 2,000 ICE agents who are pretty much only deployed at a federal building are somehow the most dangerous provocation in American history, like a threat to democracy, I think there's a kind of obvious absurdity there and a sort of theater on his part as well.
SELLERS: I would concur with you that Gavin does have more than a strand of sensationalism. And that's why these two find each other to be somewhat noble foes. They just don't like each other. It's a lot of ego, it's a lot of bravado, I think.
And, listen, we can have -- you're not going to find me wearing a Gavin Newsom 2028 T-shirt under my shirt tonight, but what I also want to tell you is you raised an interesting point, which pushes back on one of your talking points, which we hear from the right all the time, that somehow immigrants in this country are taking jobs away from people, that they're just saturating the market, that they're lowering the wages. And, you know, I just have to push back against that and say no.
And when I say that they are the fabric or a part of the fabric of our country, these are individuals who go out and work extremely hard every single day. They don't get benefits from this country but yet and still, they pour into our tax system. They pour billions of dollars year in and year out into our tax system, and so to treat them or discount them as something other than valuable parts.
And, look, we need to do something about illegal immigration in this country. I wish we could go back to Marco Rubio and -- who was the gang of eight? Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham and those guys. I mean, the gang of eight is where I wish we could go back and actually have a pathway to citizenship.
MALDONADO: But, Bakari, we have a lot of Latinos in America who have been going through the system waiting for a long, long time --
SELLERS: And they deserve to be prioritized.
MALDONADO: And all of a sudden we have caravans coming.
SELLERS: I hear you. And they deserve to be prioritized.
MALDONADO: Five star hotels, go up through the --
(CROSSTALKS)
PHILLIP: Wait. Hold on a second.
SELLERS: I hear you on that.
PHILLIP: Karen and Batya, just a second. We really -- Batya, just give me a second, okay? Batya, give me one second. We cannot all talk at the same time, please. I understand that but you're talking when I'm asking you to stop talking. He was finishing a point. Let him finish his point and then you can jump in. I'm just trying to keep order here so people at home can hear. That's all. Continue.
UNGAR-SARGON: Last year, California paid $30 billion to illegal immigrants in the form of services that were paid for by taxpayers. And you know how I know that they are taking jobs from American workers? Because that is how Karen Bass phrased it. She said, chasing people through Home Depot doesn't make Los Angeles safer. Gavin Newsom, Trump is arresting dishwashers, gardeners, daily brewers and seamstresses. Nancy Pelosi, who will pick the crops if we deport these people? Of course, Martha's Vineyard devastated by an ICE raid.
And if you want to tell me that they are taking jobs that Americans don't want to do, I can tell you that is also completely --
SELLERS: I don't know. I just find your -- I find your argument to be -- I mean, I don't -- it's --
UNGAR-SARGON: I'm saying this is a Democrat's position that we have to keep them here because --
SELLERS: There's no one saying that. I'm actually giving them something that you're not. I'm actually like giving them the benefit of their humanity. I'm actually recognizing them for contributions. What you're -- but I also --
UNGAR-SARGON: But the humanity of the American working class --
SELLERS: I agree with you wholeheartedly.
UNGAR-SARGON: -- slashed by millions of people entering these industries.
SELLERS: So, why don't you prosecute the business --
UNGAR-SARGON: He went to Omaha, Nebraska, and he did a raid.
SELLERS: Omaha, Nebraska, one time. I'm talking about prosecute the individuals who are hiring illegals at these wages. Prosecute those individuals.
FOSTER: But there's a basic sense of kind of economic literacy that has to be acknowledged here. Every child born in the country is not stealing a job from someone else.
SELLERS: Correct.
FOSTER: The population grows, the economy expands, and more people have more jobs, and those people who have jobs also end up becoming consumers of various things.
The question isn't so much whether or not an additional person in the economy is kind of destructive to the economy. That would be absurd if it were, in fact, true. The question, of course, is who is coming in? When are they coming in? What is the volume of the -- what is the rate at which they're entering the economy?
I don't know. Certainly the rates have fallen since Donald Trump was brought into office.
[22:20:00]
It's the single most effective thing he's done in office. All he had to do was show up. He didn't spend a dime. And suddenly the trick -- the flow of illegal immigration slowed down to a trickle. So, that is a very good thing and satisfies many people.
UNGAR-SARGON: The question is who benefits from it and who pays for it?
PHILLIP: We'll continue this conversation when we come back from the break.
Up next, as raids hit workplaces, as we've been discussing in homes, and that intensifies, workers at a meat packing plant jumped on the cars of ICE agents as they detained 70 of those workers there. We'll tell you what the supervisor told the workers to do in that moment, as we see a growing trend of these scenes across the country.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:25:00]
PHILLIP: Tonight, as the Trump administration escalates its immigration crackdown, calls are growing at to end workplace raids across the country. In Omaha, Nebraska, employees at a meat packing plant tried to block ICE agents by throwing themselves on top of their car. Now, more than 70 people were still detained in that raid, but here is one supervisor who said what she told them as the chaos unfolded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ESTAFANIA FAVILA, SUPERVISOR, GLENN VALLEY FOODS: We just heard, Homeland Security, just banging on the door. And I just went inside production and told everybody, hey, immigration is here. Start running. So, they just started hiding everywhere and then they found everyone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: Now, even Kim Kardashian is weighing in, she said on social media that she denounces these raids. She wrote, quote, when we witness innocent, hardworking people ripped from their families in inhumane ways, we have to speak up.
The Kim Kardashian of it all might matter to some people, but I think it's really more about what she represents. I mean, first of all, she's not sort of reflexively anti-Trump. She's worked with him before on criminal justice reform. But the stories are starting to break through.
I mean, here's one of them. This is to CNN today talking about nannies being arrested. Two nannies who Melara knows are in ICE detention after they were handcuffed in a public park where they had taken children to play. She said, quote, there is no sensitivity, no emotions, no concern about repercussions. Going into a park with other kids is just another level. The nannies are running, nannies trying to escape, dragging the kids, because they have no option, Melara said.
FINNEY: I just want to point out something that we didn't get to in the last walk, which is part -- again, part of why this is happening is because, and a majority of Americans have said, we can all agree that illegal immigration is a problem, we can agree we should be going after violent criminals, but the way he's doing it, the inhumanity. I mean, if you're going after a nanny at a park, when you pick up that nanny, what happens to that child?
And we're seeing families being separated. We're seeing instances where the parents are being taken into custody by ICE and the child is being put into the system without, instead of saying, let's contact that child's caregiver to make sure that child can be in a safe place. It's the inhumanity and the demonizing.
And the other point -- hold on. The other point that -- well, because you get loud and I can't get as loud as I can.
SELLERS: No. I sat back when you said, hold on. I just sat back and said --
FINNEY: But I think, you know, with the other -- that's the piece of this that we have to acknowledge, part of the reason that someone like Kim Kardashian is weighing in, or part of the reason you see, you know, even fairly conservative communities saying, wait a second, this is what we thought was going to happen, is because they look at these folks who have been there 10 and 15 years and they're saying, well, can't there -- isn't there a more humane way to do this? Is it right to actually take people into custody when they have a green card, when -- how about the Afghan soldier who was just arrested who believed that --
PHILLIP: That's another -- yes, I mean, that's another case. This was an Afghan soldier who --
FINNEY: There's a way -- there's a right way and a wrong way.
PHILLIP: -- was in a parole process. And I think, Abel, I want you to respond to this because you mentioned a lot of Latinos who are in the country who are in a process and they're waiting for their turn. Well, in some of these cases, what we're also seeing now is that they're going to their hearing as part of their process, they're being instructed -- the immigration judges are being instructed to allow the lawyers for the government to just simply dismiss the case so they can be arrested outside the doors.
So, we know that that's happening to people who are in the process. Some of these people may have been in this country for decades. Their data did not come in this last wave in the Biden administration. That's part of what we're seeing too. And I wonder how you see that, where I think a lot of this is happening in your state. MALDONADO: First of all, Abby, I feel like this is just overblown and overgrown and people get excited and because it's Donald J. Trump.
PHILLIP: What's overblown?
MALDONADO: I mean -- no. What I'm saying is people just get excited and they get so much anger because it's Donald J. Trump.
Donald J. Trump, in his first term, deported 1.5 million people. And so far he has deported 160,000 people since he became president again. Barack Obama deported 5.3 million people in eight years.
PHILLIP: Yes, I mean, I totally take your point.
MALDONADO: But it's because Donald J. Trump. If it was Barack Obama, it's okay.
PHILLIP: But, no, no, no, not just that. I mean, I think to Karen's point, she's making a point about the tactics here, and I think I agree with you in one sense. The Trump administration finds outrage extremely useful. That's one of the reasons why, for example, DHS posted this on X today. It's a poster that says, help your country and yourself, report all foreign invaders. They are trying to get a rise out people.
[22:30:00]
However, the tactics are different. The numbers are different. 23 percent of all arrests are non-criminals. That is way more than it normally is.
SELLERS: I mean, Abel, I think is just flat out wrong here in that comparison. I see a lot of people make that comparison. You didn't have, Barack Obama's DHS secretary playing action hero on the streets with a DHS, you know, for and then tweeting about it. You didn't -- you we weren't sending people to El Salvador, right? And -- and you weren't evading legitimate court orders. We're opening Guantanamo Bay next week to house illegal immigrants. I mean --
MALDONADO: Five million people. Five million.
SELLERS: So -- so, but, yes, I hear you. And he was the deporter. He got the name deporter-in-chief for a reason.
UNKNOWN: Yes.
MALDONADO: But -- but you brought up -- but you brought up --
SELLERS: No. I'm saying -- I'm saying that it's different and -- and I'm also saying this. I'm saying what you're highlighting is that on the watch of Democrats under Barack Obama and now Republicans, you have a broken immigration system.
MALDONADO: Completely.
SELLERS: But the fact is you can't sit here and just say that Mike Johnson and whoever the leader of the the -- the leader of the senate is now and -- and Donald Trump, this doesn't rest at their feet. I mean, the majority of the individuals who were here illegally overstayed a visa.
PHILLIP: Not a majority anymore but at one time it was --
SELLERS: At one time it was the individuals who overstayed their visa, right? We have to fix the border. We have to create -- you just deported or he self-deported the largest TikTok star in the world who didn't hurt anybody, right? I mean, he was at the Met Gala just recently.
And so, our immigration system is broken, but what you don't hear from Republicans in the House, the Senate, or the President of The United States is legitimate legislation to pass and fix this problem.
UNKNOWN: Yes.
SELLERS: In fact, it's crickets.
KMELE FOSTER, "TANGLE" EDITOR-AT-LARGE: And he's got both Houses of Congress. So, if there was an -- an aspiration to do something like that, he very well could.
UNKNOWN: But I do think --
FOSTER: And again, in a lot of cases, I think the Trump administration is interested in the spectacle.
UNKNOWN: Yes:
FOSTER: When Kristi Noem goes and she makes an ad about illegal immigration, and she say, hey, we get a $1000 if you leave the country, but you better go because we're coming for you. She's making --she's making those ads in English. Those are for Trump voters. They are not actually directed at the illegal immigrant population. There is a -- an element of theater here. And are some people more hysterical because it's Donald Trump? Undoubtedly, that is a part of the story, but he's also fine with it.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Can I have a -- I want to give Batya a chance to get in here because you haven't spoken yet. But --
BATYA UNGAR-SARGON, AUTHOR, "SECOND CLASS: HOW THE ELITES BETRAYED AMERICA'S WORKING MEN AND WOMEN": I try to be a girl.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIP: Well, I do and I appreciate that. I mean, I do wonder, you know, again, just like with the protest, it's a question of tactics. Not even really, I don't think people are even disagreeing with the broad objective, particularly on the criminal side. But the tactics of just sweeping everybody up, and --and we know that those tactics are there because of reporting, particularly in "The Wall Street Journal" that Stephen Miller went to ICE and said, you're not moving fast enough. Just go to the Home Depots and sweep them all up.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: So, that -- that causes outrage, but it also -- it -- it instigates communities in a way that we are now seeing the results of now.
UNGAR-SARGON: So, again, according to a CNN poll, 54 percent of Americans, and according to a CBS poll, 57 percent of Americans want every illegal migrant deported. It's not a majority want the criminals. A majority want every single one.
UNKNOWN: But the second --
(CROSSTALK)
UNGAR-SARGON: That is the mandate that Donald Trump believes he was given. Immigration was the top reason people voted for him. Kim Kardashian hates this because she is rich, like the people who employed those nannies. Rich people are now the base of the Democratic Party.
They are the employers of low wage labor. They love illegal migration because they get to pay their nanny less than they would have to pay an American. So, of course, they are very upset that their jobs program of an open border is coming to an end.
Working class people see this as a lifeline because they are still represented as the majority in every industry. I just want to make that point. There is not a single industry in The United States that has not done a majority by American citizens. There is no job that is beneath the dignity of Americans. There are no jobs Americans want to do --
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: There are a lot more Americans than there are than there are illegal immigrants. So, that is also true.
(CROSSTALK)
UNKNOWN: Yes.
UNGAR-SARGON: To the American Northam to say to them, these are jobs that Americans don't want to do. Like millions of Americans are doing those jobs.
(CROSSTALK)
SELLERS: Like there are more Americans in the country. So, yes, there are going to be more Americans doing everyday jobs. I mean, there's an overwhelming number of Americans versus immigrants.
FOSTER: There's also tens of millions of Americans who've left the labor force and are working in the Trump administration.
(CROSSTALK)
SELLERS: Under -- under --
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Karen, a quick last word and then we have to go.
(CROSSTALK)
UNGAR-SARGON: Wages have been undercut by illegal migrants.
KAREN FINNEY, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER, HILLARY CLINTON 2016 CAMPAIGN: Well, and I -- let's -- I will just take us back to last year when we were talking about a town in Ohio where the President spread a very a false rumor about Haitian migrants eating cats and dogs, which was a total lie. And do you know why those migrants were there? Because the factories that were there could not find anyone to take the jobs. The white --
UNGAR-SARGON: For those --
[22:35:00]
FINNEY: No, no, no. The working class white --
(CROSSTALK)
FINNEY: The working class white people wouldn't do the jobs.
UNGAR-SARGON: For those wages.
FINNEY: No, no.
PHILLIP: I don't -- I mean, ladies, I don't -- I don't know that -- I don't --
(CROSSTALK)
FINNEY: So, and they were looking for migrant labor.
UNGAR-SARGON: Whom they could pay much less.
FINNEY: Yes.
UNGAR-SARGON: I agree with you.
PHILLIP: I -- I mean, you're -- you're suggesting, I mean, just to be clear, you're suggesting, and I think not incorrectly, that if they -- if they simply raise the wages, more Americans would do the jobs. That is probably true just in a macroeconomic way.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: No, no, no. But let me just make be -- be clear about one other aspect of this. There is a -- there there is a skill gap that -- that exists in a lot of these industries that -- that wage increases are not going to resolve. So, you have to factor that in, too. And I think in the case of -- of that Ohio town, the wages were -- was not the issue.
(CROSSTALK)
SELLERS: Are you -- are you for --
(CROSSTALK)
FINNEY: Hold on. You're being disingenuous because on the one hand, you're right. You can agree that we want to get people who are violent criminals, immigrants out. However, the second part of both the polls you cited, people don't like the way he's doing it. And, politically, what's interesting, he thinks he's winning right now, and we're about to have tanks rolling through Washington, D.C. What is that going to do to our psyche when we see that and we see that on our streets?
PHILLIP: All right. I think that it's -- it's very important in politics to remember that, first of all, polls are a moment in time.
UNKNOWN: That's right.
PHILLIP: Public opinion shifts and it changes, and we should all be aware that Donald Trump and his aids believe that they have these mandates. But that could always change, and I think that's one of the things that we have to figure out where this is going to land as -- as all of this plays out.
You're seeing scenes from the streets of Los Angeles right now. We're watching what is happening on the ground everywhere. We'll take you back there to the ground where the LAPD just declared an unlawful assembly outside of city hall. We're just minutes away now from that curfew in L.A. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:41:35]
PHILLIP: Back now to our breaking news. Tensions are high in Los Angeles tonight as protesters face a curfew just minutes from now. The LAPD also just declared an unlawful assembly at City Hall. CNN's Nick Watt is there. Nick, tell us what you're seeing at this hour.
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Abby, City Hall is down there. That's where the unlawful assembly was declared. The police have moved protesters up here and moved them down here. Now, we are being told that we are not allowed to move down because arrests are currently underway. And if we were there, I'm told that that would compromise their tactics if we could see what's going on.
So, right now, we've got LAPD. We've got Metro P.D. We've got police officers on horseback. We've got the L.A. County sheriff, and they appear to be doing something down there. But I don't know what it is because I can't see. Frankly, where I'm standing here right now is quieter than some of the arguments I've been hearing from inside your studio. But it looks like the sheriff's department are now mounting up onto
vehicles to maybe move. Again, Abby, it's very hard for us to know what's going on because we are not allowed past this police line for now. As I say, because we're told that arrests are underway, and if we were there, our cameras perhaps could compromise the tactics of the LAPD.
So, we will keep you guys honest on what is happening, but we're getting close to curfew. Curfew, 8 P.M. L.A. time, 11 P.M. your time. What we saw last night was at eight. The LAPD slowly moved in and started making arrests -- more than 200 arrests. As I say, they are already making arrests right now. We don't know the details. Back to you.
PHILLIP: That is, though, very interesting that they do not apparently want cameras on those arrests that are being made. Nick Watt, your invitation to the table is on its way over to you in the mail. In the meantime, we'll be back with you if there's anything that -- that transpires there. Coming up next for us, why more and more Mexican flags are showing up at these protests and how it's making MAGA livid. This is our special coverage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:48:22]
PHILLIP: Back now to our breaking news. A curfew is soon going to begin in Los Angeles. It's the sixth night now of clashes over President Trump's ICE raids. You've probably seen the pictures of demonstrators waving Mexican flags. Those defending it say that it symbolizes pride in their Mexican heritage, but Republicans are seizing on this imagery.
Congressman Jim Jordan said, "We fly American flags in America." Vice President J.D. Vance called the protesters "insurrectionists carrying foreign flags". Trump's deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller, also pointed out that the flags, and described L.A. as, quote, "an occupied territory". And here is what the White House said earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Left wing radicals waving foreign flags viciously attacked ICE and border patrol agents as well as Los Angeles police officers. These attacks were aimed not just at law enforcement, but at American culture and society itself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: Foreign flags, a problem suddenly.
MALDONADO: My father --
PHILLIP: Yeah.
MALDONADO: -- is a Mexican immigrant to America. He came to America in the 1960s. He is proud of his heritage and proud of his culture. But when he sees a -- a Mexican flag flying on the streets, he gets offended. I'm going to tell you why.
He says, when I was coming through the process to become a legal resident and finally a U.S. citizen, he never was opposed to flying the Mexican flag in Mexico, but he felt that this was a country that gave him everything. It gave him an opportunity. It gave him a place to raise his family. He is now an American and when he sees those flags, he gets offended.
[22:50:01]
And by the way, I think the -- the Democrat Party is getting hurt by this because this doesn't do them any -- it doesn't help them at all. Because come the midterms, those images are going to be everywhere. We're in America. You want to fly a flag? You fly the American flag.
You want to fly the Mexican flag? Put it under the American flag. That's what we -- that -- that's America. That's who we are. In the poll that CNN just put out on Monday, 50 percent of Hispanics who are legal and registered to vote are voting for Donald J. Trump.
PHILLIP: Well, look, I -- I take your point about your dad. I think it's also you -- you would have to point out that there was a very prominent day. I'm not even going to say what day it was when many Trump supporters were running around with foreign flags. The confederate flag, the rebellion flag. You've got the flag of pre- revolutionary Iran flying around for who knows what reason.
Another flag, the South Korean flag at a Harrisburg, Trump rally, just the day before that day that I will not mention the date of. So, you know, I -- I'm not going to -- I don't -- I don't know. It doesn't matter. You know, I don't have a dog in this fight. I just -- all of a sudden, flying foreign flags is a problem now, but it really wasn't a problem before.
FOSTER: Yeah. I mean, this -- this seems like a -- a bit of a contrivance. Like, Mexico is an ally of The United States. Like, seeing the Mexican flag doesn't offend me in any way, shape, or form. But I would agree with you that it is a problem optically for Democrats. And quite frankly, I think Democrats do have a bit of an issue when it comes to these protests.
From the Black Lives Matter demonstrations to the pro-Palestinian demonstrations, the fact that they -- that there seems to be a kind of regular cadence with which you have these pretty explosive, often chaotic demonstrations, is not something that I think goes unnoticed.
And to the extent we talk about the problem of political violence and incivility in our country, like the footage that you've amassed, there's certainly January 6th, and it's always worth talking about that. It's also worth talking about the fact that Democrats have a legitimate issue with these problems, as well. There's been one January 6th.
There was weeks and weeks and weeks of Black Lives Matter chaos, weeks and weeks and weeks, and it's still ongoing of the pro-Palestinian demonstrations. And now, we're seeing another installment of that right now, which is perhaps the reason why we're not seeing a lot of high-profile celebrities. They may make statements on Instagram, but they're not showing up.
(CROSSTALK)
SELLERS: I would -- I would also argue that that three of those very profound movements or arguments that you were talking about happened on the watch of Donald J. Trump. I want to get his middle initial correct.
UNKNOWN: Oh, sure.
(CROSSTALK)
UNKNOWN: But the people participating in those demonstrations --
SELLERS: So, if you're talking -- but I'm just letting you know, I mean, but a lot of it -- a lot of it had to do with the ineptitude of leadership or the way that was handled because of the incendiary rhetoric that we're hearing. And I actually appreciate -- I appreciate your father's story, right? But I think that we all come from a story and that's moving.
And I dare not be able to -- to be sitting in your shoes and tell you what that flag means to your father or anyone else, so I wouldn't try to do that. What I will do though is cast a stone at the press secretary because I think that's the problem. It's not the way that you see it. It's not the way that your father sees it. But it's the way that she uses that to galvanize right versus left and she uses that as a wedge issue. And she says that this is foreign and that's that.
And so, I understand the pride and heritage there. And I -- and I respect you for actually bringing that to my attention because my argument was going to be vastly different, and that's why this show was pretty impressive. But the fact that she actually went to the podium and utilize that as a wedge issue to drive that difference between immigrants and illegal immigrants, between your father and other people who can't - who are here illegally, between Democrat and Republican, I think is a problem.
FINNEY: But also, what about for, I mean, we live, I mean, if you live in New York City, when you go through parade season, what about the Irish flag? I'm part Irish. We roll out the Irish --
(CROSSTALK)
FINNEY: No, no, no. But not -- maybe for you, but not for people who are proud of their Irish heritage and proud of their immigrant story here. And so, I mean, we see flags. My point is, particularly here in New York City, you see people flying flags from different countries. That does not mean they don't love America. That does not mean they aren't loyal to America. It means they're proud of their story.
(CROSSTALK)
FINNEY: Absolutely.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Batya, I go to give you your last word and then we got to go. Yeah.
UNGAR-SARGON: I'm really moved that you changed your mind because of his story. I -- it's, it's going to stay with me for a long time.
SELLERS: I had to make a better argument. I mean, a cultured argument.
UNGAR-SARGON: I really appreciate --
PHILLIP: I do -- I do appreciate that. I mean, one -- one thing I would note, Abel, you know, as you were talking, it is also true that, you know, there was a time when, you know, older Latinos didn't want to teach their kids Spanish. I mean, would you acknowledge that even a younger generation just has a different approach to some of these things, like the flag, like the language, like all of it?
MALDONADO: No doubt. It's different times 100 percent. I mean, it's a totally different time. But this waving the flag, I think it -- it hurts -- it hurts the cause, it hurts what they're trying to do.
[22:55:00]
And it -- it sends the wrong message. I mean, Tom Homan, if you want to go back to Mexico and carry the flag, he'll take you there for free.
PHILLIP: Yeah.
MALDONADO: I mean --
PHILLIP: All right. All right, guys. Downtown Los Angeles is just minutes away now from a second night of curfew. The LAPD has declared an unlawful assembly outside of city hall. CNN is there. We will update you on the latest. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:00:00]
PHILLIP: 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 aids -- raids. When Trump entered, boos were drowned out by USA chants at one point. Also, four drag queens arrived for what they called a non-disruptive protest against Trump's rhetoric.
It's worth noting "Les Mis" 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.
