← The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
Trump ordered to return CA National Guard to governor
00:46:58
Tonight on The Last Word: California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks after his court victory over Donald Trump. Also, California Senator Alex Padilla is forcibly removed from a DHS news conference. And Israel launches an air strike on Iran. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, Lt. General Mark Hertling, Lisa Rubin, Rep. Eric Swalwell and Richard Engel join Lawrence O’Donnell.
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Lawrence O'Donnell
America's beverage companies are investing in America.
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Jen Psaki
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Lawrence O'Donnell
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Jen Psaki
All 50 states employing more than 275,000Americans.
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Lawrence O'Donnell
In good paying jobs delivering for the.
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Jen Psaki
Nation because we believe in the promise of America and the people who make it great.
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Lawrence O'Donnell
Learn more@wedeliverforamerica.org paid for by the American Beverage Association.
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Hakeem Jeffries
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Lisa Rubin
Download Today the Last Word with Lawrence o' Donnell starts right now.
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Jen Psaki
Jen, I am in the middle of Judge Charles Breyer's opinion that is a total victory for Gavin Newsom, as we heard the governor telling us during your hour. And of course, you've reported that the Trump administration is already appealing this. But as you read it, as you get through it, it's very hard to find any space for appeal in this decision. And of course, we will also be covering the breaking news from Israel tonight about that preemptive strike against Iran. And Jen, with your experience in in a White House, in a situation like this, what would be going on not in the Trump White House because no one can ever imagine that, but what would be going on in the White House that you've served, White House you served and the administrations you've served in on a night like this, with this situation with Israel?
- [01:47]
Lisa Rubin
Well, as the congressman just alluded to, I think the biggest concern for any White House is the the safety of US Men and women serving overseas at these military bases and doing everything you can to prevent them from being targeted. Secretary Rubio's statement struck me for a number of reasons. One, it was kind of send the message, we have nothing to do with this. Iran, we have nothing to do with this. It seems they clearly knew it was coming because Trump asked them not to do it and they did it and they seem to have been monitoring it. But that is your first concern, is to de escalate what could happen in the Middle east because Iran has proxies around the Middle east, we've seen that explode. And right now it seems like Israel suggesting this could be expanded and extended so it is how much, how far, how long? And does that escalate things in the region as well? What does it mean for Iran's retaliation? They may want to keep the nuclear negotiations going. It's, it's hard to see how the Iranians can save face and do that. But that's another thing that you'd be trying to do if you're in a White House right now.
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Jen Psaki
And as we go forward, obviously, people would be up all night. People would be in touch with their counterparts in Israel trying to figure out what's going on. But what about sources that could come into the White House with information from Iran? There's no real diplomatic relations there, but there must be ways of finding out what's happening on the ground in Iran, including from the intelligence community.
- [03:16]
Lisa Rubin
Well, that's true. And they've also been engaged in these negotiations to try to put back together the nuclear deal they ripped up several years ago. They're trying to go back to something that's quite similar, where there's a low level of enrichment, where there is visibility by the international community. If that had been in place, I would question, and I asked Senator Schiff this question earlier in the hour, whether we would be at this point right now because the international community and the United States would have visibility into what was happening. There are many means of talking to Iran through UN Officials, through intermediaries, through other countries, and certainly the Trump administration is trying to negotiate with them right now, too. So that is a way to hopefully de escalate, at least for U.S. interests.
- [04:02]
Jen Psaki
At a minimum, I am sure history will agree that there is nothing no single stupider act in foreign policy than a president ripping up an agreement carefully negotiated with Iran, not just negotiated by the United States, to prevent exactly this from happening, just ripping it up and then years later saying, hey, let's do an agreement like that. Let's do an agreement like the one I ripped up.
- [04:27]
Lisa Rubin
Correct. And you remember well, and you reported on it extensively at the time. Lawrence, part of the argument to Israel at the time as to why they should not bomb Iran was we're trying to negotiate this deal so that we have visibility into their nuclear capabilities capabilities and that we would be able to get to a point where we could prevent them from acquiring a nuclear weapon and know how close they are. That was what the ask was. It worked at the time. And now Trump, who was supposedly so close to Prime Minister Netanyahu, seems like he was just ignored in his ask for them not to take military action. Well, there's lots more reporting that needs to happen. But that is certainly part of what.
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Jen Psaki
I'm interested in, Jen, your insights and your experience in situations like this, absolutely invaluable. So glad that you could guide me through this, starting this off, because we're going to turn to other news now. We're going to turn to this stunning decision by the judge, which is really not stunning at all. If you've read the Constitution. The judge actually pulled the Constitution out of his pocket during the hearing today, asking the Trump lawyers if there was anything they could find in there at all to support their arguments. It was one of the really a pretty bad day for the Trump lawyers during the actual argument in court. And now it's a worse night for them as they read that they failed with this judge in every single argument that they made. And Governor Newsom won on every single point that the governor brought to court in this case.
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Lisa Rubin
Absolutely. And you could tell from the reporting from the courtroom today that the judge was having none of that. None of their arguments in the courtroom made clear he wanted to rule quickly. And this is a huge victory for Governor Newsom. And I think probably encouraging to other governors around the country who were worried about this playbook being replicated in the effort to normalize military in the streets of the United States. But a big victory for Newsom.
- [06:25]
Jen Psaki
We have House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries joining us tonight. He was intent about coming on to discuss what happened to Senator Padilla today. A lot has now happened since then. We will get to all of it with Hakeem Jeffries in this hour and more.
- [06:43]
Lisa Rubin
I'll look forward to watching. Lauren, so much to cover.
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Jen Psaki
Thanks, Jen. Thank you.
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Lawrence O'Donnell
Thank you.
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Jen Psaki
And it is this judge's order from this case of California to Gavin Newsom versus Donald Trump. The title of the case is actually Gavin Newsom, Plaintiff v. Donald J. Trump, Defendant. That's the actual title of the case. And that case has a winner tonight, a very big winner. Here is some of what Governor Newsom said about this victory in court tonight.
- [07:17]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Today was really about a test of democracy. And today we passed the test.
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Jen Psaki
We, the people, passed the test.
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Lawrence O'Donnell
I was just 48 hours ago giving a speech almost to the minute talking about some of the enduring principles of.
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Jen Psaki
Our founding fathers who in response to.
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Lawrence O'Donnell
Monarchy, in response to King George, set.
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Jen Psaki
Out to frame a new construct to.
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Lawrence O'Donnell
Elevate and support individual freedom, liberty. They created a system of checks and balances, a separation of power, co equal branches of government framework took the best.
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Jen Psaki
Of Greek democracy and the Roman Republic.
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Lawrence O'Donnell
And It has stood the test of time. Donald Trump has tested the limits of that and has done so consistently. But today's order makes clear that he is not above or beyond constitutional constraints.
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Jen Psaki
Leading off our breaking news coverage tonight is House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. Mr. Jeffries, thank you very much for joining us tonight. There is so much for you to consider for us. First of all, let's begin with Governor Newsom and his big victory in court tonight. This decision that I've read by the judge just finds in the governor's favor all the way through ordering the California National Guard back under the command of Gavin Newsom.
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Hakeem Jeffries
It's a big victory for the people of California, for the governor, for the rule of law, and for democracy itself. Donald Trump had engaged in aggressive overreach. There was never a need for this deployment. Things were being managed by the lapd, the California Highway Patrol, as well as local Los Angeles county sheriffs. We all object and reject any efforts to assault police officers, to be disruptive, to engage in unlawful and unruly behavior. That was not the issue. The issue is how do we make sure that we can continue to protect the peaceful assembly that is guaranteed by the United States Constitution as part of the right of every American to petition their government to try to get grievances redressed?
- [09:44]
Jen Psaki
Judge Breyer, Charles Breyer very carefully reviewed every single event that has happened there that could be called in any way close to violent. Every single thing. Every mango that was thrown, every bottle that was thrown, every fire in a dumpster that happened, the fires of those driverless cars that happened over the weekend. And he concluded that none of that was beyond the control of lapd and, in fact, described exactly how local officials, local law enforcement, brought all of those situations under control relatively quickly, thereby proving, just in terms of what actually has been happening in Los Angeles, that it was completely under control and no federal support was needed. So he has that finding in addition to Donald Trump illegally ordered those troops to move into Los Angeles.
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Hakeem Jeffries
It was an extremely meticulous decision. And this was all about political theater for Donald Trump. He doesn't want the American people to lock in on the fact that he collapsed in the economy. He's failed to lower cost. The GOP tax scam is going to rip away health care for more than 16 million people, snatch food out of the mouths of children and seniors and veterans, all in service of giving their billionaire donors massive tax breaks. These are all deeply unpopular things. And so Donald Trump wanted to create a massive distraction. In this particular instance, if Donald Trump really believed that we were on the verge of insurrection, then he wouldn't have attended a Broadway play last evening at the Kennedy Center. He would have been in a Situation Room. Instead, he was out on a Night on the Town. So this was a fraudulent thing that Donald Trump and his minions at the Department of Homeland Security had engaged in. And it's now all been exposed in a meticulous decision by Judge Breyer.
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Jen Psaki
You know, I said at the outset when Donald Trump first sent the troops to Los Angeles, that this was specifically, specifically to try to get us to turn our cameras to Los Angeles and away from those senators walking down the halls in Washington who have not been able to come to an agreement on how to do the Trump budget bill in the Senate and to take the focus away from that bill. What are we going to find? What are voters going to find when they put their focus back on this bill and what this bill is trying to do to voters?
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Hakeem Jeffries
You know, Brendan Boyle, the top Democrat in the House on the Budget Committee, has done a tremendous job of pointing out one, this is the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, on top of the largest cut to nutritional assistance in American history, all in service of trying to bring about the largest set of tax breaks for billionaires in American history. It's extraordinary. And they are going to increase the debt and the deficit by trillions of dollars, force our children and grandchildren to pay for it. And as a result of this one big, ugly bill, hospitals will close, nursing homes will shut down. Community based health clinics are not going to be able to operate. People are going to die because of the lack of being able to receive the medical service that they need. And so Trump is certainly trying to hide the ball from the American people. But this is a disgusting abomination. And the more the American people learn about the GOP tax scam, the worse it gets for them.
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Jen Psaki
Senator Alex Padilla obviously became the news of the day in Washington when that video spread of him being attacked like that in a federal building, a completely secure federal building that you have to go through metal detectors and have an appointment to get into. Here's a United States senator in a federal building being attacked by federal agents with a cabinet secretary looking on, lying about California while that was happening. Where were you when you first saw that video? And what was your reaction? Hold it. Looked, maybe holding your phone in your hand looking at that video.
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Hakeem Jeffries
It was disgusting. When the news broke, I was on the Hill. We were preparing for a series of votes on the floor of the House. And when you Looked at the video. First of all, to know Senator Padilla. He is just a kind and decent person, a salt of the earth type of individual. He has an extraordinary story. Humble beginnings. Eventually became an engineer, MIT educated, and then walked away from what could have been a very lucrative career in order to serve his community and ultimately his state. And to see him assaulted in this fashion, manhandled, and then for the secretary to lie about it and the Department of Homeland Security. These people have zero credibility. And so the California delegation, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, every single part of the House Democratic Caucus stands in solidarity with Senator Padilla. If they can attack a sitting senator in his home state in this fashion, just imagine what they have in store for the American people. That's why all of us should be concerned. All of us need to push back, and all of us need to stand up for the principle that in the United States of America, there are no kings.
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Jen Psaki
Senator Padilla has insisted that this story is not about him. It's what it means to the rest of us. It's what it means about the people who the ICE agents and the federal agents are going after every day. Let's listen to what Senator Padilla said when he came out of that federal building after being the becoming the first United States senator in history to be manhandled, pushed by federal agents, thrown to the ground and handcuffed for speaking. That has never happened before in American history. Let's listen to what Senator Padilla said when he emerged from the federal building today.
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Alex Padilla
I came to the press conference to.
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Hakeem Jeffries
Hear what she had to say, to see if I could learn any new additional information.
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Alex Padilla
And at one point I had a question. And let me emphasize, just as we emphasize, the right for people to peacefully protest and to stand up for their First Amendment rights, for our fundamental rights.
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Hakeem Jeffries
I was there peacefully. At one point, I had a question, and so I began to ask a question. I was almost immediately forcibly removed from the room. I was forced to the ground, and I was handcuffed.
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Alex Padilla
I was not arrested. I was not detained.
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Hakeem Jeffries
I will say this.
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Alex Padilla
If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, if this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a senator with a question, you can only imagine.
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Lawrence O'Donnell
What they're.
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Hakeem Jeffries
Doing to farm workers, to cooks, to.
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Alex Padilla
Day laborers, out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California and throughout the country. Per una yran preguntas esta siestas la reaction campesinos yotros immigrantes no violentos la comidad Los Angeles.
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Hakeem Jeffries
Elotras arias de Sauda California.
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Jen Psaki
In El Pais, leader Jeffries, that statement about imagine, just imagine what they're doing to other people, if this is what they do to United States senators, does seem to be the lesson of the day.
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Hakeem Jeffries
It's incredibly powerful words from Senator Padilla. I think it's one of the reasons why there was such a visceral reaction on the Hill, both because we know him to be such a good man. And this is just an example of how out of control the Trump administration is at this point. We've seen an unprecedented assault on the economy, on health care, on Social Security, and, of course, on the rule of law, on the American way of life, on democracy itself. But that's why it's going to be important for all of us to continue to show up and speak up and stand up, push back aggressively against the Trump administration. Their extremism against Donald Trump and his minions in Congress who are nothing more than a reckless rubber stamp for his extreme agenda. And we'll continue to do that in the Congress, in the courts and in communities all across the country.
- [19:06]
Jen Psaki
In a, in any other presidency. I would expect you to be getting briefed very soon, if not already, about what has happened on Israel's strike against Iran tonight. Have you been briefed in any way by the intelligence services about what is happening tonight?
- [19:26]
Hakeem Jeffries
Have not received an extensive briefing. There was minimal outreach from the administration. But I do expect sooner rather than later that we'll receive a more comprehensive briefing about the state of affairs and the situation that exists. I mean, one of the things that Donald Trump, of course, promised on day one of his presidency, in addition to lowering the cost of living, that, of course, has not happened. He talked about ending the war in Ukraine. That hasn't happened. Talked about restoring peace to the Middle East. That has not happened. And so the whole Trump presidency has been a complete failure, characterized by chaos, cruelty and corruption. And, you know, I'm hopeful that cooler heads will prevail in the Middle east and the situation is de escalated. We certainly believe that Iran should never be allowed to become nuclear capable. They are an enemy not just to Israel, but to the United States and to the free world. But we also want to see a reduction in hostilities.
- [20:31]
Jen Psaki
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, thank you very much for joining us in our breaking news coverage tonight on this important night.
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Hakeem Jeffries
Thank you, Lawrence.
- [20:40]
Jen Psaki
Thank you. And coming up, we're following the breaking news in the Middle east after Israel launched strikes against Iran. Iran's state meeting reports the commander in chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard has, has been well, we're not quite sure what they're reporting about that has been killed. That is, that is a report now coming from Iran. Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling joins us next. Joining our live breaking news coverage of the situation in the Middle east Now is retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hert, the former commander of the U.S. army in Europe. And General, what are you looking at tonight in terms of possible targeting that could be, that Israel could be going for here?
- [21:33]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Well, the Israelis have announced, Lawrence, on their, on their IDF app, the Israeli Defense Force app, they report dozens of jets conducting these attacks. They don't cite the numbers. And it's described by one senior Israeli official as a strike against multiple targets as well as a decapitation attack. That's their word, not mine, against Iranian senior leaders. And they also have stated that Mossad is inside of Iran right now helping to coordinate these attacks against multiple human targets. We've already heard in some reports that the chief of the General Staff of Israel has said we can't afford here's the mission. We can't afford to wait for another time to operate. We have no other choice. And the stated strategic objective was, quote, secure a safer future for the state of Israel and its civilians. As you reported before the break, the Iranian State Meter reports are saying that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard commander Hussein Salami has been killed. No confirmation of that. But there's also been indicators that others have been killed in this strike, reportedly the president of Iran, the general staff chief, Major General Baghari, the commander of the IRGC aerospace force, and the head of Iran nuclear programs. Now, that head of Iran nuclear programs can be multiple people. It can be scientists, it can be the CEO of the activity. So the first indicators are coming in that this was a very successful attack by Israel. And what is fascinating to me is what's going to come next. There are so many courses of actions that Iran could take on this. But I think we're going to see the hardliners emboldened by this and say that they should not continue some of the negotiations they've had with the United States.
- [23:31]
Jen Psaki
Israel has been threatening this for quite a while and we've known the capacity is there. We've always known this is a possibility. But, but in most of the previous discussions about the possibility, it always seemed to be focused on targeting the possible nuclear capacity of Iran. This seems much broader than that.
- [23:52]
Lawrence O'Donnell
It does, it does, and it's very ambitious. And when you talk about, first of all, just to let your viewers know, if you look at Iran on a map, it's almost two and a half size, two and a half times the size of Iraq, where we used to fight for so many years. It's a huge country and it's a very different country than Iraq in terms of terrain and mountainous features where they can hide things. They have basically placed elements of their nuclear program all over the country. Early strikes that we've seen on the films, the ones you're showing right now, are all focused on Iran, which is in the northern part, northern central part of the country of Iran. So Tehran is getting hit. But when you talk about the nuclear program, the facilities that support that are spread all over the country and they are in many cases in mountainous regions which are very difficult to strike. And I think that's why some of the decapitation attacks have occurred, because they're going after the scientists and the engineers that contribute to that program.
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Jen Psaki
What is Iran's capacity to retaliate?
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Lawrence O'Donnell
Yeah, that's a great question. You know, if you look Back to the April 2024 attempted strike against Israel, there were literally hundreds of missiles shot in pretty much not a synchronized way. And I think the combination of Israel, the United States, other allies like Great Britain were able to shoot down those missiles as they came into waves that protected the nation of Israel. But what we're seeing now in terms of Secretary Rubio's comment is we were not involved in this strike. We are not. You know, there are indicators that there's not going to be any help for Israel. It's going to be very difficult for Israel alone to defend themselves if Iran conducts the kind of strike they conducted last April of 2024. It's going to be very challenging. And I'm sure that Iran is going to go after the civilian facilities inside of Israel just like Israel went after Tehran.
- [26:02]
Jen Psaki
Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, thank you very much for joining us tonight.
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Lawrence O'Donnell
Thank you. Thank you.
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Jen Psaki
And coming up tonight, as we reported, a federal judge blocked Donald Trump's National Guard seizure of the National Guard, basically in Los Angeles. We have much to discuss in that case and more when we come back.
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Lisa Rubin
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- [26:54]
Mark Hertling
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- [27:24]
Jen Psaki
All right, listen up.
- [27:25]
Lawrence O'Donnell
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Hakeem Jeffries
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Lawrence O'Donnell
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Hakeem Jeffries
Pastrami sandwiches from New York.
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Lawrence O'Donnell
Make dad feel like an absolute legend this Father's Day. And go to Goldbelly.com to get 20% off your first order with promo code DAD.
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Hakeem Jeffries
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- [27:57]
Lawrence O'Donnell
These folks are now being commandeered to do ICE raids.
- [28:03]
Jen Psaki
You've seen the photographs.
- [28:06]
Lawrence O'Donnell
That ends tomorrow at noon. And the notion that the United States active duty Marines, these heroes would be used to militarize the streets of an.
- [28:21]
Jen Psaki
American city is an abomination.
- [28:26]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Founding fathers did not live and die to see that happen in this country for no reason whatsoever than vanity.
- [28:36]
Jen Psaki
Theater.
- [28:38]
Lawrence O'Donnell
To instill fear, to incite a response. So I'm very hopeful this order puts.
- [28:48]
Jen Psaki
That in perspective and hopefully Donald Trump.
- [28:52]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Will immediately back down. The courts have ruled on the guard.
- [28:56]
Jen Psaki
They will be back under my command.
- [28:58]
Lawrence O'Donnell
And he'll be relieved. Donald Trump were believed of his command.
- [29:04]
Jen Psaki
At noon tomorrow in our breaking news coverage of the court ruling tonight with Gavin Newsom's big victory over Donald Trump. We're joined now by MSNBC legal correspondent Lisa Rubin. Also with us, Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell of California. He's a member of the House Judiciary Committee and a Homeland Security Committee. He also served as an impeachment manager in the second impeachment trial in the Senate of Donald Trump. Carson Swalwell, you're still state won big in court today. Your governor won big in court today against Donald Trump. The Gavin Newsom side of the case, as I read it, one on every point.
- [29:46]
Alex Padilla
And this is the way you have to take on Donald Trump, just the way that Governor Newsom has. You have to make him react and keep him on his heels. Otherwise all of us are on his heels. And Lawrence, these protests there aren't they're not just about the unfair arrests of hard working immigrants who we know as our neighbors and friends who came here in awe of America and a will to work. The bigger fear that has gripped not just Los Angeles, but the country is that we have a mad king who will arrest anyone who dissents. And let's just look at who he has arrested in the last couple weeks. Hannah Duggan, a circuit court judge in Wisconsin. Lamonica McIver, a colleague of mine from New Jersey. And today, Alex Padilla, our senior senator. But he's also arrested a four year old American citizen whose only crime was that he was battling cancer. And who has he freed. 1600 violent insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol on January 6th. And the only difference between these groups is one was for Donald and one was for a dictatorship. And while Republicans always scream about their Second Amendment right, the First Amendment is first because it's our most sacred. So people are scared, as the governor pointed out. And times have not been this dark in decades. And many of us, Lawrence, we talked about this today as we gathered as a delegation. We know that Alex Padilla will not be the last person who is detained. More will be imprisoned or arrested over the next few years. But what Donald doesn't get is that while he may have the power to take away someone's freedom, he will not have the right to take away our voices. That's the first promise of America. And the governor pointed out today that we surrender that to no one.
- [31:28]
Jen Psaki
Lisa Rubin, the hearing today seemed to be going very much in Gavin Newsom's favor. It was hard to see where the Trump lawyers scored a single point. The judge invited them. If you have anything that can create an authority for Donald Trump to suddenly take over the California National Guard in this situation, please present it. And they couldn't. They had nothing.
- [31:51]
Mark Hertling
They didn't really have anything. And I want to correct one thing. There was one place where Gavin Newsom didn't wipe the table with the Trump administration, and that was they stated that there was already a violation of the Posse Comitatus act in effect. And the judge said, you know what, that feels too speculative for me right now based on the evidence. But then instead of curbing Gavin Newsom and Rob Bonta and their request for a temporary restraining order, what he did was say, you know what, I'm going to go further than you wanted me to go, because there's no evidence that he should have called in the National Guard in the first place, based on my interpretation of the statute. And what he did there, Lawrence was really Clever, because, as you know, we have a Supreme Court that fetishizes history. They have suddenly gone very deep, not only just in looking at the plain meaning of words, but they'll take out dictionaries or legislative history from exactly the point in time where a statute or constitutional amendment was enacted. And that's what Judge Breyer did today. He said, well, if I'm going to figure out what a rebellion means and if there was a rebellion or a danger of rebellion, because there has to.
- [32:56]
Jen Psaki
Be a rebellion to justify this kind of use of truth.
- [32:59]
Mark Hertling
Correct. There are three different preconditions that can be met. One of them is a rebellion or a danger of rebellion. He said, you know what? Both sides here gave me contemporaneous dictionary definitions. That's not enough for me. I'm going to go to dictionary definitions of rebellion from the late 1800s, early 1900s, when the statute that Donald Trump himself relied upon was invoked. And based on that, here's what I conclude. A rebellion. And I'm going to quote to you from the opinion. A rebellion must not only be violent, but also be armed. Second, a rebellion must be organized. Third, rebellion must be open and avowed. Fourth, a rebellion must be against the government as a whole, often with an aim of overthrowing the government, rather than in opposition to a single law or issue. And on the basis of that definition, he concludes that even if premise that people armed with fireworks, rocks, mangoes, concrete chairs or bottles of liquid. And there he's crediting everything that the Trump administration told him has happened in Los Angeles. Even if you believe all of that, this is not a rebellion because they're not armed in a traditional sense. Yes, they were organized, but they weren't organized as part of violence. It wasn't organized violence as opposed to sporadic or impromptu violence. Nor is there evidence, and I'm reading again from the opinion, that any of the violent prot Were attempting to overthrow the government as a whole, the evidence is overwhelming that they gathered to protest a single issue, the immigration raids. And on the whole, he just says, look, this is no rebellion, much less danger of rebellion. Therefore, I am going to find that the entire basis or predicate for calling in the Guard never existed in the first place. Returning the National Guard in California to the control of Gavin Newsom tomorrow at noon, unless and until somebody else acts to intervene.
- [34:47]
Jen Psaki
Yeah. And Carson Swalwell, the judge, so meticulously reports every mango that was thrown, every dumpster that was set on fire, and points out that no firearm was ever used by anyone and that the overwhelming Majority, almost all of the protesters did absolutely nothing illegal or violent at any moment in any of this. It's the, it's the most careful catalog I've seen of every single thing that actually has happened in downtown Los Angeles this week.
- [35:23]
Alex Padilla
And Lawrence also pointing out we're talking about a square mile. This. And you know, Lawrence, Los Angeles is one of the largest counties in America. You could go from Philadelphia to New York City and cover the distance between the two farthest points in Los Angeles. This is a square mile. Does not justify what the President has done. Certainly does not justify the $134 million that he spent. And even spending all of that money, we've seen images now of our troops sleeping in absolute squalor, which is what you would expect from somebody who has called our troops suckers and losers. But I can just tell you after our caucus met today, after hearing about this ruling, we are determined that we're going to continue to fight to make sure that we unmask these ICE agents. This is bothering everyday Americans who don't feel safe. They fear that individuals can impersonate ICE agents and particularly target women. Also that you could have a confrontation where somebody in an open carry state, for example, could confront an ICE agent. And also, Lawrence, the no Kings Day rallies on this coming Saturday. We are calling for Americans everywhere to link arms and for the size of the rallies, not any act of violence. We don't want that size of the rallies be the point to show that everywhere in America we are saying no to this mad king.
- [36:48]
Jen Psaki
And Lisa, about kings, I have never heard a federal judge talk about kings more than Charles Breyer, brother of former Chief justice, former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. He kept saying that the government's position amounts to the President being a king. Kept using that word, king.
- [37:08]
Mark Hertling
Yeah, because he was essentially saying, taking issue with the government's position that the President alone could determine when a rebellion exists, when an invasion exists, when the President is unable through regular forces to execute the law. And he said, it can't be that. There's no check on that whatsoever. There is a role for judicial review here. And the government's lawyer was saying, no, no, no. When the President makes that determination, that's when you get out of the way. That's what we call non justiciable, meaning there's nothing for a court to decide. Charles Breyer taking serious umbrage at that today. And as you said, saying, no, no, no. This is what differentiates us from the times of King George. This is why we have our own country is because we intended to have checks on that and that includes us as a court.
- [37:53]
Jen Psaki
Yeah. Carson swalwell, it was really quite a moment where the judge really did say that, you know, the reason we have this country is to prevent the chief executive or king from having the powers that you want this guy to have.
- [38:11]
Alex Padilla
That's right, Lawrence. And again, he noted that the mayor of Los Angeles and the governor of California did not ask for the president to send these federal troops. It was a complete abuse of his power. And the lesson here has to be for every governor and every attorney general in the country is to lean in and you and meet chaos with your own powers. Otherwise, Donald Trump will continue to flood the zone. So this is a victory today, and it's one that has to be, I hope, copied and, and used by other governors across the country because this will not be the last city where the president tries to do this.
- [38:53]
Jen Psaki
So, Lisa, this order goes into effect at 12 noon tomorrow unless, unless the.
- [39:00]
Mark Hertling
Ninth Circuit or even the Supreme Court of the United States intervenes. Right now, the Trump administration has filed an appeal with the Ninth Circuit. That's the federal appeals court that oversees the federal district courts in California. They have not yet asked for stay, as far as I know, but they likely will do so tonight. And if they don't get an answer within a couple of hours of that 12 noon deadline, I expect that they will go to the Supreme Court sort of leapfrogging over that appeals court, ask the Supreme Court to issue its own stay. The only trouble for them might be this. As you know, Lawrence, every circuit has what's called a circuit justice, a justice of the Supreme Court that's responsible in the first instance for taking in those emergency applications. Guess who the circuit justice is for the 9th Circuit, one Elena Kagan. And so I wish all the luck to the Trump administration and trying to put that application before Justice Kagan in the first instance. At the very least, I don't expect that she alone will grant them that relief.
- [39:57]
Jen Psaki
Lisa Rubin and Congressman Eric Swalwell, thank you both very much for joining our live breaking news coverage. Really appreciate it. Thank you. NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel joins us now. Richard, what is the situation as of this hour? What information do we have on this strike?
- [40:17]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Well, sources in Tehran and Iranian media are both saying that that this was a major attack, that nuclear facilities, military.
- [40:27]
Jen Psaki
Bases were hit by Israel all across.
- [40:30]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Iran, the Natanz nuclear site being one of them, but that there were also.
- [40:35]
Jen Psaki
Attacks on Iranian military leaders.
- [40:38]
Lawrence O'Donnell
They were targeted assassinations of top leaders in the Rev Guard, also in the in their atomic program, that the Iranians are saying that the head of the Revolutionary Guard was killed. I was just told a short while ago that another top official in the Iranian supreme leader's office was also targeted, that several residential compounds that house military military officials were directly hit. And according to the Iranians, at least two residential buildings caught fire and collapsed on these military compounds.
- [41:19]
Jen Psaki
What are you expecting day two will bring?
- [41:25]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Well, it seems very likely that the Iranians will mount some sort of response. Now, it could come immediately or it could come. It could be a delayed response. There have already been in the last year or so two Iranian attacks against Israel, both of them in response to Israeli attacks on Iranian facilities or attacks in Iran. One was on an Iranian diplomatic facility in Syria.
- [41:50]
Lisa Rubin
The other was a direct attack on.
- [41:52]
Lawrence O'Donnell
A Hamas leader inside Iran. In both cases, Iran waited. And in both cases, the United States came to Israel's aid and made the Iranian response effectively useless. So in the first case, Iran broadcast its intentions. It told the world what it was going to do, and it had very little impact. The second attack was shut down because of a massive response. So Iran is very likely to respond, but it could be delayed. And it's very likely that the US Will be involved in defending Israel as it has been in these two recent occasions.
- [42:33]
Jen Psaki
NBC's Richard Engel, thank you very much for joining us in this breaking news. Thank you. And coming up, Donald Trump surrendered today. This was the big news of the day. Before we saw what happened to Senator Alex Padilla and before the strike tonight by Israel in Iran, the big, big news of the day was Donald Trump completely surrendering on mass deportations. He said today, in effect, that will never happen. I'll show you how he said it next.
- [43:10]
Lisa Rubin
Did you know 39% of teen drivers.
- [43:11]
Mark Hertling
Admit to texting while driving?
- [43:13]
Lisa Rubin
Even scarier, those who text are more likely to speed and run red lights. Shockingly, 94% know it's dangerous, but do it anyway.
- [43:20]
Mark Hertling
As a parent, you can't always be.
- [43:21]
Lisa Rubin
In the car, but you can stay connected to their safety with Greenlight Infinity's driving reports. Monitor their driving habits, see if they're using their phone, speeding and more. These reports provide real data for meaningful conversations about safety. Plus, with weekly updates, you can track their progress over time, help keep your teens safe. Sign up for Greenlight infinity@Greenlight.com podcast.
- [43:41]
Mark Hertling
We all belong outside. We're drawn to nature, whether it's the recorded sounds of the ocean we doze off to or the succulents that adorn our homes. Nature makes all of our lives, well, better. Despite all this, we often go about our busy lives removed from it, but the outdoors is closer than we realize. With alltrails, you can discover trails nearby and explore confidently with offline maps and on trail navigation. Download the free app today.
- [44:12]
Jen Psaki
All right, listen up.
- [44:13]
Hakeem Jeffries
The only gift that any dad wants.
- [44:15]
Lawrence O'Donnell
On Father's Day is Goldbelly.
- [44:17]
Hakeem Jeffries
Goldbelly ships the most iconic foods from.
- [44:19]
Lawrence O'Donnell
The best restaurants across the country straight to his door for free. Let him kick back and chow down on award winning barbecue from Texas, epic deep dish pizza from Chicago or colossal.
- [44:29]
Hakeem Jeffries
Pastrami sandwiches from New York.
- [44:32]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Make dad feel like an absolute legend this Father's Day. And go to goldbelly.com to get 20% off your first order with promo code DAD.
- [44:39]
Hakeem Jeffries
That's 20% off@goldbelly.com code DAD.
- [44:46]
Jen Psaki
Today's unlawful physical attack on United States Senator Alex Padilla by the totally unprofessional and incompetent federal agents who did that came after Donald Trump completely surrendered on his promise to deport 15 million people. The central lie of Donald Trump's deportation campaign promise came apart today when Donald Trump himself decided to agree with Senator Alex Padilla and agree with every Democrat in the House and Senate and agree with Kamala Harris and agree with Joe Biden that of course we should never be arresting and deporting the hard working people who harvest our food in this country. The hard working people who make our clothes in this country, the hardworking people who make the beds in the hotels where those ICE agents sleep when they're out there hunting the families of those people who make their beds. Donald Trump put his surrender in writing at 9:43am today saying, Our great farmers and people in the hotel and leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good longtime workers away from them. With those jobs being almost impossible to replace. We must protect our farmers, but get the criminals out of the usa. Changes are coming. So Donald Trump promised to deport every one of those people working on farms. Every one of them. He promised to deport all of them and then he decided not to deport them. Today, Donald Trump promised to deport 15 million people. That would include everyone who is working in those fields, harvesting the food, making beds in hotels. Everyone. And now that Donald Trump has finally decided to listen to the owners of those industries, he's not going to deport 15 million people. He's not going to deport, deport a million people. It's over. The mass deportation lie that he never could have done anyway is over. And Donald Trump formally, publicly gave up today. According to Donald Trump today, all of those people can stay. Millions and millions and millions of them can stay. All the hardworking people with jobs can stay. That's most of the people who are here without documents. All the people who Senator Padilla knows feel threatened tonight. All of them can stay. According to Donald Trump this morning, they can now stay. And then in Donald Trump's typically incoherent mental acuity challenged way later in the day, Donald Trump said this.
- [47:38]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Our farmers are being hurt badly by, you know, they have very good workers. They've worked for them for 20 years.
- [47:43]
Jen Psaki
They, they're not citizens, but they've turned.
- [47:46]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Out to be, you know, great.
- [47:48]
Jen Psaki
And we're going to have to do something about that.
- [47:50]
Lawrence O'Donnell
We can't take farmers and take all their people and send them back because they don't have maybe what they're supposed to have, maybe not.
- [47:58]
Jen Psaki
And you know what's going to happen.
- [47:59]
Lawrence O'Donnell
And what is happening, they get rid of some of the people because, you know, you go into a farm and you look and people don't. They've been there for 20, 25 years and they've worked great and the owner of the farm loves them and everything else.
- [48:11]
Jen Psaki
And then you, and you're supposed to throw them out. And you know what happens?
- [48:14]
Lawrence O'Donnell
They end up hiring the people, the criminals that have come in, the murderers.
- [48:17]
Jen Psaki
From prisons and everything else.
- [48:19]
Lawrence O'Donnell
So we're going to have an order.
- [48:21]
Jen Psaki
On that pretty soon, I think.
- [48:22]
Lawrence O'Donnell
We can't do that to our farmers. And leisure too hotels.
- [48:27]
Jen Psaki
We can't do that to our farmers. He was doing it to the farmers. So Donald Trump just learned that today, what everyone has been saying for years and years and years in defense of those people who Donald Trump was calling murder, murderers and rapists, everything we've been saying, I guess, has finally sunk in with Donald Trump, the slowest and stupidest president in history. Donald Trump says that some of those people have worked there 20 years, 25 years. Donald Trump now says they're great. Donald Trump says the owners of the farms love them. Donald Trump says we can't send them back because they don't have maybe what they're supposed to have. Oh, yeah, that may be what they're supposed to have. Document. That's no problem. Now that is exactly why Donald Trump has been deporting everyone he has deported so far this year is because maybe they don't have what they're supposed to have in legal documentation to be here. Donald Trump doesn't care about any of that anymore. The stupidest man in the room finally realizes that Democrats are completely right about this and always have been. But that admission by Donald Trump, that huge surrender today by Donald Trump, is now overshadowed, shadowed tonight by what the stupidest secretary of Homeland Security in history did to Senator Alex Padilla today. What Donald Trump said today is not going to make one person in this country feel safer tomorrow. Not one person picking strawberries in California is going to feel safer tomorrow because Donald Trump said they can stay, they can stay now. They can stay forever and they won't feel safer because they've all seen what happened to a United States senator today. And Senator Padilla is right. It's not about him. It's about all of us. We are all Alex Padilla tonight. Any one of us could be the next one on the floor in handcuffs in the ragingly thuggish, unconstitutional government now run by the stupidest, most dangerous president this country has ever had to endure. That is tonight's last word.
- [50:54]
Lisa Rubin
Did you know that parents rank financial literacy as the number one most difficult life skill to teach? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app for families. With Greenlight, you can set up chores, automate allowance and keep an eye on your kids spending with real time notifications, kids learn to earn, save and spend wisely. And parents can rest easy knowing their kids are learning about money with guardrails in place. Sign up for Greenlight today@Greenlight.com podcast.