← The Briefing with Jen Psaki
The Briefing with Jen Psaki
Trump and allies are eager to distort protests in L.A.
00:45:13
Donald Trump needs the protests in L.A. to be violent and chaotic so he can justify the power grab he desperately wants. His allies in Congress and right-wing media are only too happy to oblige by encouraging his exaggerations and distortions. Jen Psaki takes a closer look at how the protests in L.A. are being mischaracterized as Trump edges toward invoking the Insurrection Act.
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News Anchor
Download Today we are expecting that California Governor Gavin Newsom's office is going to have a major address that he's going to have a major address to Californians this evening and we're going to take it to if it comes to us in the next hour, which we certainly expect it to come to us in the next hour at this point in time, we're expecting it around 9:30 Eastern Time tonight. Now, when Governor Newsom starts talking, we're going to take that live. As I said tonight, the mayor of Los Angeles, as I just mentioned, also declared a local emergency for downtown LA that happened literally in the last few minutes and they will enforce a curfew from 8pm to 6am local time. Look, I'm sure by now you have seen a lot of images, a lot of images of what is happening on the streets of Los Angeles. They are everywhere on television, they're on social media. And to be clear, there are moments, there have been moments where the protests have been very chaotic and there are moments where they have certainly also been violent. I mean, I'm sure you have seen this image of an autonomous Waymo car lit on fire by protesters many, many times. I feel like it is all over my social media Feed more than almost anything else. And Fox News has been using the image basically like wallpaper. You can see a lot of the examples there to depict the city of LA in a state of complete chaos. What you may not be seeing are scenes like this. This was the scene yesterday outside of the clothing manufacturer that federal immigration agents raided on Friday. These are family members of the people who were arrested gathering to tell their stories and demanding due process for their loved ones. I had to witness him being chained up like he was some kind of dangerous animal. I witnessed how they put my father and handcuffs chained him from the waist and from his ankles. The hardest and most painful thing is that my children miss their father. He is our family soul, family financial support. I was present during the raids. I saw with my own eyes the pains of the families crying, screaming, not knowing what to do. Just like me. That's why the families demand free of all workers, legal representation and due process. Every day since Friday, Los Angeles has also seen multiple peaceful protests. People coming out in droves to express how upset they are that the Trump administration is rounding up their neighbors and their family members and their friends and people in their community. But these aren't the protests the Trump administration wants you to see. They don't want you to see what you see on the screen right now. They want you to see chaos and violence. They want you to see that Waymo car on fire over and over and over again. Which is why it is constantly on Fox News at all moments, as if it is a wallpaper backdrop, because they need that chaos and violence as a pretext to justify their outrageous and likely illegal military intervention. Today, just today, 700 active duty Marines arrived on the ground in Los Angeles. Those 700 active duty troops joined 4,000 National Guard members that President Trump ordered into the city of Los Angeles against the wishes of both the mayor of Los Angeles and the governor of California. And as my mother would say and says often, none of this is on the level. I mean, Trump is insisting that this massive escalation in force is completely necessary. Today he stood in front of a group of men and women in uniform at Fort Bragg. You can see the footage there, essentially using them as a backdrop in uniform. And absurdly described protests in Los Angeles as attacks of a vicious and violent mob. He's working overtime to spin this as an entirely Los Angeles invented problem. But make no mistake, this problem started in Washington mainly because of that guy and the guy you just saw. It started with Trump aide Stephen Miller sending an impossibly high quota for immigration agents tasking the agency with arresting 3,000 people a day. The Wall Street Journal is now painting a very stark picture of the marching orders the White House is giving its immigration agents. The Journal reports that Miller told ICE officials that federal agents needed to just go out there and arrest illegal aliens, as he put it. Agents didn't need to develop target lists of immigrants suspected of being in the US illegally, a long standing practice, Miller said. Instead, he directed them to target Home Depot, where day laborers typically gather for hire or seven eleven convenience stores. Those are exactly the tactics, by the way, that we all saw play out in Los Angeles this weekend. Today, in an LA City Council meeting, the director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles said that by her organization's count, at least 300 people have been detained by federal authorities in Los Angeles since last Friday. She said that in addition to the Home Depot and the clothing manufacturer raid on Friday, her group confirmed immigration raids at car washes and a donut shop and on a group of roofers. As she puts it, Our communities are being terrorized. We're in a state of terror. People are outraged at what's happening. So, yeah, of course they are. And of course those tactics led to peaceful protests in the street. And NBC News reports tonight that tactical units from ice, like the ones we have seen this week in la, have been told to be ready to deploy to five other cities run by Democratic leaders. Two sources familiar with the matter tell NBC News that special response teams, as they're called, teams that use heavy Bearcat tracked vehicles, long guns, tactical vests, have been ordered to deploy in the following Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia, the D.C. area and New York City. And what we are thinking of right now as an LA issue and what we're talking about as an LA issue or a California issue is very much quickly becoming a national issue. And remember, the order Trump used to send the National Guard into Los Angeles doesn't mention California even once. It's a nationwide order. So Trump pretending these largely peaceful protests warrant troops in the streets of LA matters. I mean, because these protests in no way warrant sending in the National Guard. That's not just a moral statement or it's not just my personal opinion, which it also is my personal opinion. But legally, importantly, to federalize the National Guard. For the President, any president, to order the National Guard into a state without that state's governor's approval, there needs to be either an invasion, a rebellion, or a belief that the President is unable to execute the laws of the United States. So today there was a hearing on Capitol Hill and Congressman Pete Aguilar of California actually asked the Secretary of Defense, the guy who oversees our nation's military, which of those three justifications Trump was using to send the National Guard into la.
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News Contributor
Invasion by a foreign nation, a rebellion.
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Or dangerous rebellion against the authority of the government of the United States, or.
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The President is unable with regular forces.
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News Anchor
To execute the laws of the United States.
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News Contributor
Which authority is triggered here to justify the use of.
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I don't know.
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You just read it yourself and people can listen themselves. But it sounds like all three to me.
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News Anchor
Sounds like all three to me. I mean, that was the Secretary of Defense overseeing our nation's military today, saying that Los Angeles is currently the site of an invasion, a rebellion, and is a place where the President of the United States is unable to execute the laws of the country. That is their justification to claim they need the National Guard on LA's streets. And when you give the timeline of these orders, even the slightest bit of scrutiny, you can see how completely bogus they are. I mean, this is a post of Donald Trump's from 2:41am on Sunday morning. It is him thanking the National Guard for a job well done, restoring peace to Los Angeles. The issue with that post is that the National Guard didn't start arriving in Los Angeles until about 11am that day, eight hours after his post. Then yesterday at 3:44pm, Trump was asked specifically if he was planning to send the Marines into Los Angeles. He said, we'll see. He said that at that moment, they had the situation under control.
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Senator Alex Padilla
Are you planning to deploy Marines in.
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News Anchor
California to address the situation in Los Angeles?
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Senator Alex Padilla
Are you going to deploy Marines in California?
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News Anchor
We'll see what happens.
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News Contributor
I mean, I think we have it.
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News Anchor
Very well under control. I think it would have been a very bad situation. It was heading in the wrong direction.
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News Contributor
It's now heading in the right direction.
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News Anchor
He said it was under control and heading in the right direction. And yet, half an hour later, The Pentagon deployed 700 active duty Marines to Los Angeles, something the US military does not typically implement in 29 minutes. See, the Trump administration's claims about why they need to send in the military simply don't add up. They're looking to kind of back, create justification, to still create it. So today, California Attorney General Rob Bonta asked a federal court for a temporary restraining order, an order that would halt the deployment of both the National Guard and the Marines in Los Angeles. Attorney General Bonta originally asked for that request to be granted today, but the judge decided to give the Trump administration until 11:00am Pacific Time tomorrow to file their response and setting a hearing on the matter for 1:30pm Pacific Time on Thursday, a hearing that could, depending, and we're about to talk to him about this, literally send nearly thousands of National Guard and military members on the streets of LA packing and importantly, set a precedent for what Trump can get away with around the rest of the country. Joining me now is the Attorney General for California, Rob Bonza. Thank you so much for joining me. You asked the federal judge to issue a restraining order right away, which I think is understandable for anybody who's not a lawyer just watching and all the concerns we all have about the military being there on the ground. The judge seemed to side with the defense's request for 24 hours to respond, and hearing is now on Thursday, which means basically two more days of the National Guard and Marines operating in communities around la. I mean, how concerning is that delay of two days to you?
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Thumbtack Advertiser
It's concerning, but it's not unreasonable or, frankly, unexpected for this judge who, whatever he decides, certainly if he finds with us, expects the federal government to appeal the case. So he wants to be thoughtful. He wants to consider the different arguments and the factual presentations. So we asked for an order on very shortened time, just a few hours. The judge wanted to spend a few more hours than that to review the opposition of the US Government and then have a hearing on it that's completely appropriate. But we believe that the harm is imminent, it's irreparable, it's irrelevant. So that's why we're moving quickly and aggressively to get an order as soon as possible.
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News Anchor
One of the things you argue is that Trump and Hegseth have made clear, publicly and privately that the National Guard and Marines are in Los Angeles to accompany ICE officers on raids and that they will, quote, physically interact with or detain civilians. I think that is something we all have concerns about. You cite a declaration from a California military official who says he became aware that the Defense Department was planning to change their mission starting today. We've seen a range of reporting, including from NBC News, about sort of deploying additional groups out to other states. But tell us more about what you know about what they're planning in California and what specifically you're presenting in your argument there.
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Thumbtack Advertiser
The deployed National Guards people, as well as the Marines, they have a mission to protect federal property, operations and functions and personnel. So that necessarily means they will be out in the field, in neighborhoods, in communities, with ICE agents protecting the ICE immigration enforcement operations and protecting those personnel. We believe that that with respect to the Marines, is a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. We have made a decision, and we have a law that requires civilian law enforcement on American soil and civilian areas, not military law enforcement. That's the heart and soul of the Posse Comitatus Act. We also believe that the National Gu was called in without authority and that this is an unlawful power grab attempt by President Trump. He does not have the authority. There is no rebellion. There is no invasion. That's obvious. There is no inability for the federal government to execute the laws, although Mr. Hegseth seems to claim all three exist. And what's more, the governor's consent was not provided, which is also required under the law that is relied upon by the federal government. So the National Guard should be returned to the command of the Commander in Chief, who is Governor Gavin Newsom, the govern of California. And the Marines should be restricted to only lawful operations, which means they cannot go out and accompany and participate in civilian law enforcement activity in the communities and neighborhoods of Los Angeles.
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News Anchor
You said earlier today, and you seem to allude to this a little bit in your answer there, that if the judge rules in your favor, the National Guard Marines would go back to proper command. For people who are trying to understand what that means, maybe people who are watching, who are in the LA area, would that compel them to stand down altogether immediately? I mean, do you expect that ruling could happen on Thursday? What is your expectation overall?
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Thumbtack Advertiser
Yeah, you know, the judge will hear the arguments of the state and of the federal government. We believe we have really strong, compelling arguments, and we are hopeful, and we believe we'll secure a temporary restraining order on Thursday once the judge. Judge, here's all of the facts and all of the legal presentations. The California National Guard is a joint operation that generally is under the command of Governor Gavin Newsom. If there's a specific statute that allows the President to take over command, and they're rare and they're infrequent, then he may. But those conditions are not present here. So these are National Guards, people who were on the San Diego, Mexico border combating fentanyl inflow. They were tackling wildfires and involved in wildfire suppression work. Work now that we're in wildfire season, they're doing important work. They will likely be returned to that work if that's what Governor Gavin Newsom wants them to do. The Marines, they're not under the command of Governor Gavin Newsom, but they cannot conduct civilian law enforcement activity on American soil. So if one of the most elite fighting forces. If it's the decision of the president to use them to guard federal property, perhaps that is something that they could do consistent with the Posse Combatus act. But they can't be in communities accompanying ICE and ICE agents in their operations of civil immigration enforcement.
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News Anchor
Huge difference between those two, as you very helpfully explained. I just outline what I see as kind of both an effort to run a PR style campaign of creating and painting a picture of chaos, along with an effort to lay the groundwork for legal justification, which is obviously what you're navigating for invoking the Insurrection Act. Do you see the Insurrection act and invoking it as Trump's endgame?
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Thumbtack Advertiser
Yes, it's lurking and the words they use suggest it's coming. This, you know, very deliberate and intentional adoption of the youth insurrection when there's no insurrection. But they're trying to lay the groundwork and prepare and socialize an idea that's not true. And, you know, this idea that Los Angeles would be burning that Trump is suggesting if it weren't for him, even though the National Guard had nothing to do with tackling, you know, the incidents of crime and vandalism that were occurring, that credit goes to local law enforcement, the sheriff's department, the biggest in the nation, the police department, the third biggest in the nation. So Trump likes to call non emergencies. Emergencies and things that aren't insurrections. Insurrections and things that aren't rebellions or invasions. Rebellions are invasions.
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News Contributor
Why?
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Thumbtack Advertiser
Because those are the trigger words. Those are the legal requirements that give him more power. His end game is to claim and usurp more power that is not his and that he is not owed because those factual conditions don't exist on the ground. But he's a salesman. He has a very complicated and difficult relationship with the truth. And you can ask the people of Los Angeles if they think there's a rebellion happening right now or if they're under invasion. I'm not sure who the invasion would be from. President Shybaum of Mexico might be very surprised to hear that some people are suggesting that they are invading the United States of America right now. But it matters what the facts actually are, not what the President, with his lay terms and his manipulations of language call things. And so there's no insurrection. But it doesn't mean he's not going to try to claim an insurrection and invoke the Insurrection act because he desperately wants the power that it would give him. And if he claims an insurrection when there isn't one, and there isn't one now and we don't believe there will be. We'll take him to court and we'll block him.
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News Anchor
Attorney General Rabanta, you are on the front lines of what I think other attorney Generals will unfortunately perhaps soon be experiencing. Thank you so much for joining me tonight. I really appreciate it. We are going to sneak in our shortest break of the night. It's a very quick one. We are waiting remarks from Governor Gavin Newsom. As I mentioned, Senator Padilla is standing by. He is the son of immigrants. He is the son of Los Angeles. The story is very personal for Senator Padilla and he joins me here at the table in just 90 seconds.
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News Anchor
Joining me now as promised is Democratic Senator Alex Padilla of California. Senator, it's great to see you. As I just said before the break, you are, this is your hometown. You are a son of immigrants. This is very personal for you. We've just seen there's such a slew of news happening. We're going to keep bringing people updates over the next hour. If you hear anything, let us know. 700 marines arrived in Los Angeles today. They add to the thousands of National Guard members who were there. As I just started the show, the majority of protests are peaceful. There are some exceptions to that. But what are you most worried about as the situation appears to escalate?
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Senator Alex Padilla
Yeah, well, it's a situation, a crisis, if you're going to use that word that Donald Trump created. Right. The increasingly aggressive tactics and theatrics for this immigration enforcement operations, number one, unnecessarily and counterproductive to send in the National Guard in an unprecedented fashion. Right. Not since 1965 over the position or the request of a governor. And didn't he say during his address to the cadets earlier today that the situation is moving in the right direction, but now he's sending in more Marines. That's just further proof that he'll take any opportunity to escalate further and further. This is not necessary. Look, I know Sheriff Luna in Los Angeles County. I know Chief McDonnell in Los Angeles Police Department. They and other partners in the region are more than capable to handle demonstrations, marches, protests. Nothing new in Los Angeles. But this moving in of federal forces, the federalization of the National Guard, unnecessary, counterproductive domains just over the top. And so, you know, we've got to keep calling out Donald Trump. He doesn't have the authority. We don't think no proper justification for this move. So I appreciate Attorney General Bata going to court. And if you look closely, governors across the country have spoken up against this. Attorney generals from across the country are part of this suit. Because if Donald Trump gets away with this, this is coming to every corner of America. I share that with my colleagues at lunch today. We all need to be concerned. This is not just a Los Angeles challenge.
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News Anchor
No question about that. There was just news that I said at the top of the show about NBC's reporting special units that are about to go out in other cities around the country. Washington, D.C. is one of them. Philadelphia, a number of other cities. Let me ask you, because one of the things we're trying to focus on today in day is pushing back on any disinformation. We tried to start the show doing that you know why curfews are put in place. The mayor of Los Angeles put a curfew in place. It seems for some you hear it and it sounds counter to this notion that things are peaceful and okay. Do you know why she put a curfew in place and what do you think about that decision?
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Senator Alex Padilla
Well, it's I think part of their trying to get a handle on. Not the peaceful protesters by day, right? Not the immigrants rights advocates and organizers that are leading very peaceful marches throughout the course of the day. But when the sun goes down, those leaders and families go home and that's when the folks seeking to cause trouble come out. And you have seen the vandalism, the looting. There's been dozens of arrests. So the police are doing their job. So maybe the curfew is part of trying to get their arms around that. I'm not completely sure. But I think one thing that is worth emphasizing here is Donald Trump clearly lied. Not a shock for you that he's gone far beyond just targeting violent criminals, dangerous criminals. That's what he talked about during the course of his campaign. But as you hear, not just what's happened in Los Angeles, but throughout the country since January 20, stories of working fathers, working mothers being detained and deported without due process rights, otherwise law abiding, tax paying residents of our communities. When you hear the story of a four year old girl in the Central Valley receiving life saving treatment and received a notice to self deport. Thankfully that was rescinded only because of the public backlash. So, you know, when Donald Trump says violent criminals, violence, I'm sure there's some, and there's no sort of debate if that was the focus. But what they're doing is going far beyond the pale. And I'll end with this. You know, California, most populous state in the nation, most diverse state in the nation, home to more immigrants than any state in the nation, mostly documented, some undocumented, but it's the same California that's the largest economy of any state in the nation, fourth largest economy in the world, not despite its immigrant population, but because of the contribution of so many immigrants as workforce, as consumers, as entrepreneurs. They deserve better. Those nonviolent immigrants that are working hard and helping make our country stronger, they deserve to not live in fear. They deserve not to live in fear of deportation. They deserve to have a pathway to legalization and maybe citizenship. What about dreamers? What about farmworkers that we all depend on? Donald Trump isn't talking about that.
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News Anchor
No, he certainly is not. And I don't Expect he will be what he is talking about. You know, he seems to be. You mentioned this is not just a California issue. I've said this, too. It's become already becoming a national issue. There is going to be big, no, Kings Day protests across the country. There already are this week leading up to it. Those will be on Saturday. He basically said today that if any protester who dares to interrupt his vanity military birthday parade. He didn't describe it that way. I'm describing it that way. Would be met with very big force. What do you make of that?
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Senator Alex Padilla
The ego on this guy. Right. It's got no limits, no bounds. This parade on his birthday really is just to soothe his ego. Maybe, but it's costing the taxpayers so much. And whether it's the Department of Defense personnel that will have to be there to execute the parade or the people that have been taken away from important assignments, important missions to go execute a job that they don't have the training for. Right. It's leaving our culture, our country, vulnerable in so many other ways. It's the same concern I heard from troops down in Guantanamo Bay. Right. Several of my colleagues and I traveled to Guantanamo Bay earlier this year to begin to get answers as to what was going on. Unprecedented use of Guantanamo Bay as a detention facility for migrants. At what cost and at what vulnerability? Because members of the military are being taken away from other important missions to do Trump's vanity project.
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News Anchor
Senator Padilla, I know this is very personal for you. I really appreciate you being here and helping. Helping make sense of. Not even make sense of helping explain what's actually happening on the ground. I really appreciate it. We are waiting for Governor Gavin Newsom to speak any moment. When he does, we're going to bring that to you live as soon as he does. Up next, we're going to head live to Los Angeles where Jacob Soboroff is on the ground for us at a big peaceful protest. We'll be right back.
- [28:27]
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- [30:33]
News Anchor
Tonight, faith leaders from various religious communities across LA have come together to hold a candlelight vigil outside of City Hall. They're explicitly calling for an end to violence and for immigrant families to be protected from future ICE raids. MSNBC political and national correspondent Jacob Sobroff is on the scene and he joins me now. Jacob, first of all, describe, I mean you texted me about this earlier today. It's right in back of you. Describe for me the scene there. Who's there? What are people saying, who you're talking to?
- [31:03]
News Contributor
The one word that comes to mind is love. Leech. And I have to say we have seen a lot of coverage on television of how quote, unquote, gnarly things have gotten, quote, unquote all across LA and a couple blocks away from here. It's true there are protests that have at times turned violent. There has been some vandalism, there's been altercations with the police department. But this is an interfaith vigil with just about every member of the clergy that I recognize and know from Los Angeles up on the stage right now here in Gloria Molina grand park, right in the shadow of City Hall. I don't know if you can see it. Jp, will you just show them City hall up there? This is really the civic center of Los Angeles. And it couldn't get more peaceful, more unifying and honestly more of a wonderful feeling than what we are here looking at right now. And the whole idea here is to come out in support of immigrants because as we've talked about quite a bit over the last couple of days and through the weekend, immigrants are the fabric in the heart of Los Angeles. And that's why people are here, to stand up for immigrants, to support immigrants and also to demonstrate peacefully, to show that LA is coming out in force and they're not out tagging buildings across the city, throwing rocks and bottles across the city. That is limited to a couple block area a couple blocks from here. And the rest of the city is. It's feeling like it normally does. And here they're united against the actions of the Trump administration.
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News Anchor
Yeah, that's it. And for those of us who are not from la, you are from la. It's a huge city, there's a lot of space in it. I mentioned earlier, and I just wanted to get the details exactly correct, that there is a curfew, but it's for a small portion. Can you explain to us where that is, how big that portion of LA is.
- [32:48]
News Contributor
For people that are from LA or have been here? It goes from about where we are in downtown Los Angeles, and like I said, the protests are a couple blocks away to about where Dodger Stadium is in Elysian Park. I would say it's a couple miles away at the most. Los Angeles is a city that is almost 500 square miles. And so we're talking about a several square mile area within a 500 square mile city within a county that is even much bigger than that. And so this is a very specific area and it's is designed to get the people off of the streets who have been engaged in some of the vandalism and the violence that we've seen over the course of the last couple nights in that area around where President Trump has basically sent the National Guard to sit and do not much of anything other than protect a loading dock. Jen?
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News Anchor
Yeah, yeah, they can't do much more than that legally. So that's the thing. You have been on the ground. I mean, you were one of the first people who gave me a heads up on this, who gave so many people out there watching a heads up of what was happening and the reaction in the community to these ICE raids. What are you seeing today in terms of the engagement of the National Guard and the arrival of the 700 Marines? Are you seeing, is there a bigger presence Is it visible in the community?
- [34:01]
News Contributor
No, not yet. I haven't seen the Marines yet and we've heard reports that that all is getting underway. But out on the streets there are no Marines yet. The National Guard is largely limited to that one little entrance to the Metropolitan Detention center around the corner, which is where the protest started, because remember, ICE engaged in these wide scale immigration enforcement operations and that's where they brought the detainees, the 44 that were detained on the first day.
- [34:26]
News Anchor
Jacob, I'm going to cut you off because I promised we were going to go to the governor as soon as we had audio and video and we're going to go to the governor. I so appreciate you bringing us this peaceful protest.
- [34:35]
News Contributor
Constitutional right to free speech and assembly to protest their government's actions. In turn, the state of California and the city and county of Los Angeles sent our police officers to help keep the peace. And with some exceptions, they were successful. Like many states, California is no stranger to this sort of unrest. We manage it regularly and with our own law enforcement. But this again was different. What then ensued was the use of tear gas, flashbang grenades, rubber bullets, federal agents detaining people and undermining their due process rights. Donald Trump, without consulting California law enforcement leaders, commandeered 2,000 of our state's National Guard members to deploy on our streets illegally and for no reason. This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president inflamed a combustible situation, putting our people, our officers, and even our National Guard at risk. That's when the downward spiral began. He doubled down on his dangerous National Guard deployment by fanning the flames even harder. And the President, he did it on purpose. As the news spread throughout la, anxiety for family and friends ramped up. Protests started again. By night, several dozen lawbreakers became violent and destructive. They vandalized property. They tried to assault police officers. Many of you have seen the video clips of cars burning on cable news. If you incite violence, I want to be clear about this. If you incite violence or destroy our communities, you're going to be held to account. That kind of criminal behavior will not be tolerated. Full stop. Already more than 220 people have been arrested and we're reviewing tapes to build additional cases. And people will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Again, thanks to our law enforcement officers and the majority of Angelenos who protested peacefully, the situation was winding down and was concentrated in just a few square blocks downtown. With that, that's not what Donald Trump wanted. He again chose escalation. He Chose more force. He chose theatrics over public safety. He federalized another 2,000 Guard members. He deployed more than 700 active U.S. marines. These are the men and women trained for foreign combat, not domestic law enforcement. We honor their service. We honor their bravery. But we do not want our streets militarized by our own armed forces. Not in la, not in California, not anywhere. We're seeing unmarked cars, unmarked cars in school parking lots, kids afraid of attending their own graduation. Trump is pulling a military dragnet all across Los Angeles, well beyond his stated intent to just go after violent and serious criminals. His agents are arresting dishwashers, gardeners, day laborers and seamstresses. That's just weakness. Weakness masquerading as strength. Donald Trump's government isn't protecting our communities. They're traumatizing our communities. And that seems to be the entire point. California will keep fighting, will keep fighting on behalf of our people, all of our people, including in the courts. Just yesterday, we filed a legal challenge to Donald Trump's reckless deployment of American troops to a major American city. Today, we sought an emergency court order to stop the use of the American military to engage in law enforcement activities across Los Angeles. If some of us could be snatched off the streets without a warrant, based only on suspicion or skin color, then none of us are safe. Authoritarian regimes begin by targeting people who are least able to defend themselves. But they do not stop there. Trump and his loyalists, they thrive on division because it allows them to take more power and exert even more control. And by the way, Trump, he's not opposed to lawlessness and violence as long as it serves him. What more evidence do we need than January 6th? I ask everyone, take time, reflect on this perilous moment. A president who wants to be bound by no law or constitution, perpetuating a unified assault on American traditions. This is a president who, in just over 140 days, has fired government watchdogs that could hold him accountable, accountable for corruption and fraud. He's declared a war, a war on culture, on history, on science, on knowledge itself. Databases, quite literally are vanishing. He's delegitimizing news organizations, and he's assaulting the First Amendment and the threat of defunding them at threat. He's dictating what universities themselves can teach. He's targeting law firms and the judicial branch that are the foundations of an orderly in civil society. He's calling for a sitting governor to be arrested for no other reason than to, in his own words, for getting elected. And we all know this Saturday, he's Ordering our American heroes, the United States military, and forcing them to put on a vulgar display to celebrate his birthday, just as other failed dictators have done in the past. Look, this isn't just about protests here in Los Angeles. When Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commandeer the National Guard, he made that order apply to every state in this nation. This is about all of us. This is about you. California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes. This moment we have feared has arrived. He's taking a wrecking ball, a wrecking ball to our founding father's historic project. Three co equal branches of independent government. There are no longer any checks and balances. Congress is nowhere to be found. Speaker Johnson has completely abdicated that responsibility. The rule of law has increasingly been given way to the rule of Don. The founding fathers, they didn't lived and died. See this kind of moment, it's time for all of us to stand up. Justice Brandeis, he said it best. In a democracy, the most important office, with all due respect, Mr. President, is not the presidency, and it's certainly not governor. The most important office is office of citizen. At this moment, at this moment, we all need to stand up and be held to account. A higher level of accountability. If you exercise your First Amendment rights, please, please, do it peacefully. I know many of you are feeling deep anxiety, stress and fear. But I want you to know that you are the antidote to that fear and that anxiety. What Donald Trump wants most is your fealty, your silence, to be complicit in this moment. Do not give in to him.
- [42:05]
News Anchor
Who gave an address to California, but I heard it is really the country we're going to bring back in. Jacob Soboroff to talk about that set of remarks. Jacob, I'm not sure if you could hear it. And for those who are just tuning in, here are a couple of things that stuck out to me. He gave a summary of where things stood, how things led up to this point. He said it was winding down. It was concentrated in a few squares. He said that Trump had chosen theatrics over public safety. He said we don't want our streets militarized. He said he was pulling a military dragnet, which is quite a quotable phrase from the governor. Then he took it more national, which was very interesting. I think we'll get to Jacob back. We'll see in a moment. He talked about how authoritarian regimes begin by targeting people least able to defend themselves, which is something that I think a lot of us have called out. This is the tactics of Donald Trump, the strongman tactics trying to weaken activism, weaken protests, weaken the media, weaken anybody who might resist. He also gave a bit of a warning. It will not end here, he said in his remarks as well. And he connected it to Saturday, where there are going to be Trump. Trump is having his self involved birthday celebration. There are going to be no Kings Day protests as well happening. So powerful speech by Governor Newsom wrapping up events in California, but also some stark warnings about what we're facing as a country. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be back in a moment. The San Francisco Chronicle and one reporter in particular have been in quite a run of blockbuster reporting on the Los Angeles ICE protests and the Trump administration's response to them. They reported about National Guard troops the Trump administration deployed over the weekend and how, quote, wildly underprepared they were. Exclusive photos published by the paper shows federalized California state troops sleeping on a concrete floor. You can see some photos right now there on the screen of a federal building in Los Angeles. The Chronicle followed that up with exclusive reporting on a letter they obtained sent by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem one day before Donald Trump's legally dubious deployment of US Marines to Los Angeles. In it, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem asked Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to direct the military to arrest protesters and provide drone surveillance support. Now, the military is generally forbidden by law from taking part in domestic law enforcement, hence everything we've been talking about for the whole show, unless the president invokes, of course, the Insurrection act or Congress authorizes it. But according to the letter obtained by the Chronicle, Noem requested that Hegseth give direction to DoD forces to either detain, just as they would at any federal facility guarded by military lawbreakers under Title 18 until they can be arrested and processed by federal law enforcement or arrest them. That doesn't sound aligned with what you're supposed to do. Joining me now is the reporter who broke both of those stories, investigative reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. Matias, you have had a busy couple of days and it is thanks to reporters like you and others who are really telling all of us what's happening on the ground. So thank you for doing all you've done. I wanted to start by just asking you about your story about the DHS letter because Nomes request has not been granted. But your story quotes a few lines from the letter you obtained. Not the whole thing. What else was in the request that Noem sent anything else that stuck out to you that you just didn't have time in your report or your publishing to do?
- [45:42]
News Contributor
Yeah, it was pretty interesting. I mean, the four. The four asks were pretty extraordinary, and that's what we focused on. But the beginning and end of the letter was largely kind of painting an apocalyptic picture of what was going on in Los Angeles as kind of the support for these asks. And so, you know, talking about essentially hinting that MS.13 members were participating in these protests and how this is badly needed, that these asks are met by the dod. So it was a lot of, frankly, inflammatory kind of language about what the scene was in la.
- [46:29]
News Anchor
I guess not surprising given what we've seen stated publicly. There was a kind of chain of events here. I mean, after publishing this piece and you've publicly talked about this, DHS confirmed details you reported in a response, but then came Back to you 40 minutes later with a new response. Tell me if I'm getting this all right, and told you to disregard the old one, which is not something I can say from having worked in communications for a long time. It happens often. But what does that tell you? You've been reporting on these issues and these agencies for some time.
- [47:02]
News Contributor
It told me that the story wasn't aligned maybe in the various agenc. You know, hours after our story actually published. You know, we asked for comment late Monday and heard back early Tuesday, California time. And that was when we got the first statement from the DHS spokesperson who essentially doubled down on the DHS secretary's letter saying that, you know, in order to stop these rioters, she needed to ask for military members to have the ability to arrest people. And so that. Then, as you said, just about a half hour after that, after we had worked to add it into the story online, I got a second email from that same individual in all caps saying, hold on, I can update you in a second. Please don't use this as a reporter. I've done this for a long time. A, that is somewhat rare, and B, that is only usually an excuse for a reporter to absolutely use what was sent because, you know, there's. There's a reason behind it. We're not there to just accept what we're told by these agencies. And so, sure enough, moments after I alerted them that we had already put it into the story, we received a new statement from a spokesperson with the agency. And that statement described how there was. After that letter was sent on Sunday to Hegseth, there was a meeting between Hegseth Noem and Donald Trump, where they discussed this. And then that's where that statement said that the troops will remain in the same posture. And so essentially saying that at this point, they're not going to be deputized to where they could arrest someone.
- [48:53]
News Anchor
Matthias Gaffney, I know you are probably not sleeping a lot, probably drinking a lot of coffee, but you are bringing all of us a lot of information that everybody wants to know about what's happening on the ground there. So thank you again for what you do and for joining me tonight, everybody. Really appreciate it. And coming up, are you in the mood for some election results? I'm in the mood for some election results. We've got news. You may have seen it out of the race for governor of New Jersey when we come back. All right, hit the election music, guys. It's time. Well, I hope that helps you get over the residue trauma from November. We're all working on it, but much of America's attention is, of course, on the West Coast. That's what we spent the show talking about. But tonight is also election night in the great state of New Jersey. Garden State voters went to the polls today to vote in primaries ahead of this year's election for governor. Incumbent Democratic Governor Phil Murphy is, of course, term limited and cannot seek reelection. And so Democrats had a lot of potential candidates to choose from to members of Congress, the mayors of two major cities. Polls closed two hours ago and we can report that Congresswoman Mikey Sherrill has won the New Jersey Democratic primary for governor. She will face off against Republican Jack Cittarelli, who won tonight's Republican primary for governor. Cittarelli was also the Republican nominee in 2021 when he lost to Phil Murphy. That race will, of course, likely be considered. It will be considered a bellwether ahead of next year's midterm elections. Talk about it a lot. I'm sure that does it for me today. You can catch the show Tuesday through Friday at 9pm Eastern on MSNBC. And don't forget to follow the show on Blue sky, Instagram and TikTok for now. Goodbye from Washington and we'll see you next week.
- [50:38]
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