Downtown LA declared 'unlawful assembly'
Downtown LA declared 'unlawful assembly' | The Excerpt
On Monday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: Tensions escalated in Los Angeles late Sunday between law enforcement and protesters as California National Guard troops arrived. USA TODAY National Immigration and Border Reporter Lauren Villagran takes a look at Trump's 'invasion' claims. Proud Boys who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 sue the government for $100 million. USA TODAY White House Correspondent Bart Jansen discusses disputes among Republicans about parts of Trump's major tax bill. Cole Escola makes nonbinary history at the Tony Awards.
Let us know what you think of this episode by sending an email to podcasts@usatoday.com.
Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
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Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Monday, June 9th, 2025. This is The Excerpt.
Today, the latest from California amid demonstrations over integration actions. Plus, we take a look at Trump's invasion claims. And disputes among Senate Republicans fuel concerns about the tax bill.
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Tensions escalated in Los Angeles last night between law enforcement and protesters as California National Guard troops arrived to quell demonstrations against President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. Trump ordered the deployment of 2,000 guard members over the objections of Los Angeles mayor, Karen Bass, and California governor, Gavin Newsom, who said, "Trump wanted to create a spectacle."
US Northern Command said, "About 300 soldiers were on the ground at three locations in the greater Los Angeles area to provide safety and protection of federal property and personnel." Newsom said, "The guards deployment was unlawful.", and called on the Trump administration to rescind its order in a letter yesterday afternoon. The governor said, "The decision was a serious breach of state sovereignty.", and demanded that the president return control to California. And in an interview with MSNBC, he said he planned to sue the administration over the deployment, adding that Trump has created the conditions around the protests.
Trump has pledged to deport record numbers of people in the country illegally and locked down the US-Mexico border, setting ICE a goal of arresting at least 3,000 migrants a day. Sweeping enforcement measures have also included residents in the country legally, some with permanent residents, spurring legal challenges. Trump said he was sending the National Guard to restore order.
He told reporters on his way to Camp David for a meeting with military leaders that he doesn't think the protests in Los Angeles qualify as an insurrection, but that he would be keeping a close eye on the situation. Still on a social media post, he called the demonstrators "violent, insurrectionist mobs" and said he was directing his cabinet officers to take all such action necessary to stop what he called "riots". You can stay with the latest throughout the week on usatoday.com.
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President Trump insists the US is under invasion and has continued to invoke wartime powers to stop it. For more on the administration's perspective and what the border numbers tell us, I spoke with USA TODAY, national immigration and border reporter, Lauren Villagran.
Hello, Lauren.
Lauren Villagran:
Hey, Taylor.
Taylor Wilson:
You're right that as part of Trump's immigration actions, he has put the nation on a wartime footing. I just want to start by getting a sense of what you mean by that.
Lauren Villagran:
What we've seen in the past five months is really a solidification of the rhetoric that we heard for a very long time, both on the campaign trail and over the past four years regarding a quote, unquote, "invasion" of immigrants into the country. While that was rhetoric before, it is now essentially what is driving many of the Trump administration's actions regarding immigration enforcement. We did a review of President Donald Trump's executive orders, proclamations and memoranda, and found at least 12 references to an invasion both at the southern border, references to illegal alien invaders within the country, and that is forming the basis for the Trump administration's quote, unquote, "repelling" of the quote, unquote, "invasion".
Taylor Wilson:
What's his stated goal amid all this?
Lauren Villagran:
In his formal communications, it is to stop and repel the invasion of the southern border and the consequences of the quote, unquote, "invasion" that is already here. I think at that point it becomes a fair question to ask whether the president of the United States has put the country on a wartime footing. He has on the basis of, again quote, unquote, "invasion" claimed extraordinary powers that are being challenged in courts of law now: everything from invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to aggressive and militarized immigration enforcement tactics which, I should say, many of his supporters endorse.
Taylor Wilson:
I want to hear a little bit more about his supporters. We know that immigration was a big part of his campaigning and he made some big campaign promises as it pertains to migration. What have his supporters said about this approach since he's taken office?
Lauren Villagran:
It's a mixed bag. There are certainly supporters who have been vocal about supporting President Trump's initiative to remove millions of people from the country. There are others who say that the president on the campaign trail promised to remove criminals. We are seeing that happening every day. It's clear that others are getting swept up in the dragnet. We are seeing folks who are legal, permanent residents be detained, people who are here on a tourist visa. Students, of course, are now facing additional scrutiny should they support causes that this administration does not support.
Taylor Wilson:
And constitutional scholars say many of the president's actions are based on claims of authority he does not lawfully actually have, right? What are scholars saying here, what are academics saying, just in terms of what he can and cannot do?
Lauren Villagran:
That's really for the courts to decide, of course. And we're seeing that. We have seen the Supreme Court of the United States decide to send cases back to lower courts for review. So really, the jury is quite literally out on whether the powers the president has claimed to quickly remove immigrants from the country to deport or send them away to detention in foreign nations like El Salvador. All of these things are open questions. It's very early days of the administration. We've got to remember, we're five months in.
The President has made a promise to remove millions of people and it's playing out in really dramatic ways from California to Vermont.
Taylor Wilson:
Lauren Villagran covers the border and immigration for USA TODAY. Thank you, Lauren.
Lauren Villagran:
Thanks, Taylor.
♦
Taylor Wilson:
Five members of the right-wing extremist group, the Proud Boys, who stormed the U.S. Capitol during the January 6th insurrection and were later pardoned by President Trump are suing the government for more than a $100 million. They alleged the Justice Department and FBI violated their constitutional rights after arresting and jailing them for their participation in the effort to stop Congress from certifying former president, Joe Biden's, election victory in 2020. They argue in their suit that the Proud Boys and their families were subjected to forceful government raids, solitary confinement, and cruel and unusual treatment.
On the first day of his return to office in 2025, President Trump issued a sweeping clemency order granting pardons to almost all of the more than 1,500 defendants who stormed the Capitol on January 6th and issuing sentence commutations to 14 others. In interviews with USA TODAY in February, most of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit defended their actions on that day and said unequivocally they would do the same thing again. You could read more with the link in today's show notes.
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As senators continue to work on President Trump's tax bill, disputes among Republicans threaten its approval in the Senate and pass compromises reached by the GOP-led house. That's as Democrats show no sign of wanting to help Trump grab a major win to begin his new administration. I spoke with USA TODAY White House correspondent, Bart Jansen, for more.
Thanks as always for joining me, Bart.
Bart Jansen:
Thanks for having me.
Taylor Wilson:
Bart, several Republican senators said, "The government would still spend too much here." As for some of the concerns we're hearing, let's start with Senator Rand Paul and some of his issues.
Bart Jansen:
Yeah, that's right. He's been the most vocal among about a handful of Republican senators who have spoken up saying that they think the package of Trump's priorities, tax cuts, and border security, and other things will still spend too much money. The Congressional Budget Office estimates it could add $2.4 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. Trump disputes that figure because he thinks economic growth is going to overcome it, but lawmakers usually stick to CBO for their estimates.
So, Rand Paul is saying they need to cut more, and he would also do some other things such as there's a provision in the legislation to increase the debt limit. We're right now getting very close. It's approaching $37 trillion overall that the country has in debt. And we're going to get to the cap on that borrowing, it's estimated now, in August. This legislation would raise that cap by $5 trillion as part of the overall package.
There's a few folks that are squeamish about doing that. And then, Rand Paul is among the ones who says, "Hey, let's split that off into a second vote." That's a difficult vote. The leadership and Trump want to keep that all in the same package where you basically jump off the cliff with everything at once.
Taylor Wilson:
Medicaid issues seem to be pretty contested as part of this part. How are some senators pushing back on this point?
Bart Jansen:
That's right. Again, the estimate is that Medicaid would be cut a little north of $700 billion over the next decade, and that that could lead to a lack of coverage for 7.6 million people. Again, leadership and Trump contend that there aren't really cuts. A big portion of how those cuts would be achieved is by requiring able-bodied folks to work or show that they tried for jobs or did volunteer work, something in order to get those healthcare benefits for lower-income people.
But Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican of Missouri, has raised issues with the legislation, restricting the ways that states can raise money to provide their portion of the matching funds that are required for this federal program, sometimes called a provider tax or a sick tax. But Missouri is one of the states that's taken advantage of those things, and Hawley worries that if you get rid of those provisions, that rural healthcare providers might not be able to stay in business. And that would be tough for everybody, because maybe you'd have to travel farther or people wouldn't be around to provide healthcare.
Taylor Wilson:
Bart, you're right, the Senate could drop some contentious provisions that house members really risk supporting. Which provisions are we talking about here?
Bart Jansen:
Recall that the House passed the bill 215 to 214. They've got almost no margin for error. If the Senate tinkers with anything, that could disrupt the very precarious balance that they've got in the House, and if they change anything, it has to go back to the House. So, a key compromise that was needed for the support of Republican lawmakers in the house in expensive states, California, New York, New Jersey, was an increase in the federal tax deduction for folks in those high property value states. And so it raised the deduction limit from 10,000 to $40,000 for people earning less than $500,000 a year.
They were fine with it on the House side. One House member said, "Boy, if you reopen that can of worms, it would be like digging up radioactive waste." He was really encouraging the Senate not to do. But there are senators that are eager to reduce that tax deduction back to where it was, because they contend, "Hey, if you live in a high tax state, that's your own fault."
Taylor Wilson:
Senators have given themselves a July 4th deadline here. Are they on track to meet that? And then, I guess some of these provisions could go back to the house, correct?
Bart Jansen:
That's right. If the Senate changes the bill at all on its way to passage, it has to go back to the House for another vote, and presumably the House could change it again as well. But the goal in both chambers is to try to get it through the entire congress by July 4th, to get it on President Trump's desk. That's just an aspirational goal. There's no drop-dead deadline to that.
But a real deadline having to do with this is that the Treasury Department has estimated that the country will reach its limit on borrowing sometime in August. And they'd be scheduled for a recess in August, so the real goal is to try to pass this before the August recess.
Taylor Wilson:
Right. Bart, I'm sure we'll be chatting again soon on this. Bart Jansen covers the White House for USA TODAY. Thanks, Bart.
Bart Jansen:
Thanks for having me.
♦
Taylor Wilson:
The Tony Awards are in the books. This year's ceremony saw the vibrant Afro-Cuban musical, Buena Vista Social Club, and Netflix prequel play Stranger Things: The First Shadow, scoop up multiple trophies apiece. Meanwhile, Cole Escola won best leading actor in a play for their inspired turn as First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln. They're now the first non-binary performer to win in that Tony category.
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And coming up later today, a new episode of Forum.
Gillian Gurney:
Pride means so much more than just the joy and courage that we exude as a community year round. But I think this time specifically is a time to acknowledge the revolution that it took to get us here.
Taylor Wilson:
That was Gillian Gurney, a 26 year old who lives in New York City. There are more people sharing their thoughts on pride right here today, beginning at 4:00 PM Eastern Time.
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Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio, and if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. As always, you can email us at podcasts@usatoday.com. I'm Taylor Wilson and I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.
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