On Tuesday morning's broadcast of CNN News Central, anchor Sara Sidner attempted to pin the blame for escalating violence in Los Angeles, California on President Trump's deployment of the National Guard and Marines and downplay the riots as mostly “peaceful.” During an interview with LA County Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger, Sidner tried and failed to link federal intervention to the riots, all while downplaying the ongoing violence as mere small outbursts.
Barger skillfully redirected the conversation and shifted the spotlight on the true issue: the politicization of the riots.
Her first attempt to bait Barger came when she asked, "Are the protests or the ICE raids having a bigger impact on the city of Los Angeles?", implying that ICE's presence was to blame for the violence, rather than the actions of rioters and looters. Barger responded with a refreshing dose of reality:
Well, right now, I would argue the protests are having a bigger impact on what is taking place downtown. I mean, this is not peaceful protest. These are anarchists who are going in and—really, opportunists. They're taking advantage of a situation that unfortunately continues to escalate. She emphasized that these weren't peaceful demonstrations but instead violent rioting and vicious attacks on law enforcement.
Not eliciting the leftist approved answer she was hoping for, Sidner’s biased questioning continued. “What about the President’s unprecedented step of sending in the Marines?” she pressed, falsely calling the decision unprecedented, considering there is ample historical precedent like the somewhat similar 1992 LA race riots as one example.
Once again dismantling the loaded questioning, Barger reminded Sidner that the National Guard was initially brought in to protect law enforcement, who were being targeted by these attacks. Details that, somehow, hadn't made it into CNN’s dramatic field notes:
"Well, early on, when the National Guard was brought in, it was brought in to protect the ICE agents because the federal government, the President and Homan did not feel that ICE were being protected. We saw agents being attacked, rocks being thrown, and quite frankly, people's lives were put in jeopardy."
Barger made an important point. There was a reasonable threat to life and safety in Los Angeles, not only for law enforcement officials but civilians as well. To Barger, the issue was larger than politics; it was about safety at this point.
Continuing to make yet another attempt to politically hijack the conversation and frame the situation as authoritarian tyrant Trump vs. innocent peaceful protesters, Sidner brought up other government officials, pressing Barger on if she agreed with her colleagues on whether the violence stemmed from protesters or the provocation of law enforcement:
SIDNER: "Look, some of your colleagues have said that bringing in the National Guard and bringing in, for example, the Marines ratchets up tension. Do you feel the same way?"
BARGER: "No, I feel actually, I think that we are all really guilty. And I—and I say guilty because the leaders need to be the voice of reason. The—the setting, the tone and the rhetoric that's taking place, quite frankly, is not helping the situation."
Naturally, that didn’t quite fit CNN’s script, especially since it didn’t incorporate their favorite negative buzzwords for the current administration.
Eventually, when no question was providing the answer she wanted, Sidner asked if Barger was referring to the President’s social media posts when she mentioned rhetoric as being the main issue in causing the violence:
SIDNER: "Are you speaking of the leaders that are serving with you or what Donald Trump said, which is 'If I didn't send in the troops to Los Angeles in the last three nights, that the once beautiful city would be burned to the ground'... Who's rhetoric are you referring to?"
BARGER: "Across the board. Across the board. This is not an us against them. You know, last time I checked, ICE is part of the federal government. They are an arm of law enforcement, and it's across the board. I mean, it's not just on the Republican or the Democrat side. It's across the board."
Barger also mentioned that the leadership should feel guilty, including herself, for creating the environment for this to happen:
"There is no question that when we pushed ICE out of the jails and, and did not allow them to take, criminal immigrants that—that are here illegally that we pushed it into the community, and this is the result of that. So it's across the board. It's not-- it's not one or the other. It's all."
Despite Sidner’s desperate attempt to spin the story, Barger was unwavering in setting the record straight: these protests were not peaceful, they were not Trump’s fault, and they needed to stop.
The entire transcript is below. Click "expand" to read.
CNN News Central
June 10, 2025
9:04:45 AM ESTSARA SIDNER: All right. We begin with breaking news this morning. I am live here in downtown Los Angeles, where the sun has now come out, giving you a look at some of the destruction that happened after tensions flared once again for a fifth day into the wee hours of this morning between police and those protesting the immigration raids that have been happening across not only the city, but across the state.
Just to give you a view of what's happening here, this is the area, this is the flashpoint where you're seeing some of these protests in the evening start to turn violent and destructive. And to give you a view of what's happening now, you can see the National Guard is here standing, and with their equipment outside of the federal building and federal courthouse, which is right to the left of them outside the VA, another federal building, and to the left of me, outside of the federal detention center, where ICE detainees go.
Overnight, new clashes happened right where we are standing near these federal buildings. You can see some of the graffiti as well. But we were seeing damage and vandalism in some pockets of downtown. By no means the whole area. Protesters appeared to throw fireworks and other objects at police officers in riot gear, firing flash bangs and rubber bullets back at protesters trying to move them along.
And, we should mention, that as the night went on, by eight, nine, ten o’clock, the number of protesters really shrunk to about a couple of dozen from what we could see. Now, the Pentagon, though, is sending in 700 Marines to Los Angeles, and the President says he is doubling the number of members of the National Guard on the ground here, which would bring the total number of Guards personnel to 4,000 people here in Los Angeles.
The Pentagon, also, the President posting this short time ago saying, “If I didn't ”SEND IN THE TROOPS” to Los Angeles the last three nights, that once beautiful and great City would be burning to the ground right now(…)”
That is not how local political authorities, nor the local police have seen it, who have said that they do have this under control, and they showed some of that last night as these protests dwindled and then petered out.
Now, we are seeing this across the country. We are seeing these eruptions against these ICE raids happening across the country in cities like New York and Dallas and Atlanta and Seattle, among other cities. And now I would like you to be introduced to Kathryn Barger, she is the chair of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors for the Fifth District.
Supervisor Barger, let me first ask you this: Are the protests or the ICE raids having a bigger impact on the city of Los Angeles?
KATHRYN BARGER: Well, right now, I would argue the protests are having a bigger impact on what is taking place downtown. I mean, this is not peaceful protest. These are anarchists who are going in and– really, opportunists. They're taking advantage of a situation that unfortunately continues to escalate. So right now, my concern are the protesters, not the peaceful, which we saw when they were downtown supporting, you know, David Huerta. I think it's important for us to recognize that– that they are coming in peace. But there are those that are embedded that are really attacking law enforcement. This is not about I.C.E.-- this is about completely dismantling law enforcement.
SIDNER: Let me ask you about this unprecedented step that Donald Trump has taken of deploying Marines on U.S. soil due to protests, and then doubling the number of National Guard members here. Is that needed in the city right now?
BARGER: Well, early on, when the National Guard was brought in, it was brought in to protect the ICE agents because the federal government, the President and Homan did not feel that ICE were being protected. We saw agents being attacked, rocks being thrown, and quite frankly, people's lives were put in jeopardy.
At this point, I believe LAPD and the Sheriff's Department have it under control. They brought in mutual aid from other departments throughout L.A. County, and I feel right now and, you– you reported on it last night. We were able to hold at a bay, but then, of course, we had looting taking place downtown. Again, individuals that are not there to protest ICE. They're there to take advantage of the situation.
SIDNER: Look, some of your colleagues have said that bringing in the National Guard and bringing in, for example, the Marines ratchets up tension. Do you feel the same way?
BARGER: No, I feel actually, I think that we are all really guilty. And I– and I say guilty because the leaders need to be the voice of reason. The– the– the setting, the tone and the rhetoric that's taking place, quite frankly, is not helping the situation. It's important to communicate both at the state and federal level. You know, I represent an area that's been devastated by the fires, the reason why we've been able to move so quickly is because we have communicated and coordinated. By not doing so, you create chaos. And so I think the leaders also need to set the tone as it relates to what's going on. And– and I don't feel that– that that's what's taking place.
SIDNER: Are you speaking of the leaders that are serving with you or what Donald Trump said, which is “If I didn't send in the troops to Los Angeles in the last three nights, that the once beautiful city would be burned to the ground...” Who's rhetoric are you referring to?
BARGER: Across the board. Across the board. This is not an us against them. You know, last time I checked, ICE is part of the federal government. They are an arm of law enforcement, and it's across the board. I mean, it's not just on the Republican or the Democrat side. It's across the board. There is no question that when we pushed ICE out of the jails and, and did not allow them to take, criminal immigrants that– that are– that are here illegally that we pushed it into the community, and this is the result of that. So it's across the board. It's not it's not one or the other. It's all.
SIDNER: Do you think the sanctuary city, the way in which that exists is creating a problem here? You just mentioned that you think that because of the rules that were set in place by then-Governor Jerry Brown, that the state is a sanctuary state, that that is causing the problem, or do you see the problem also as President Trump not going through the governor, which is the norm to bring in the National Guard?
BARGER: Again, all of the above. We had, up until 2016 when Alex Villanueva became sheriff. ICE was there, 287G, in our jails. Actually handing over undocumented that had had felony cases that needed to be taken out of the country. They were pushed out of the jail, which meant that now when ICE has to go in and take custody of one of these individuals, they have to go into the community. That's what you're seeing happen.
As it relates to, you know, the governor, I share his frustration. You know, it's you find out that that the National Guard is coming in and there's no coordination. I talked to Sheriff Luna. There's no coordination between local law enforcement and, and the National Guard, and it's just a no win situation across the board.
SIDNER: And you mentioned ICE. Glendale has now – one of the cities in Los Angeles County - has now said they are no longer going to be cooperating with ICE. They're one of the few cities left that did when it came to those who were being detained. So we will see what happens. We will also be here on the ground to see what happens here in downtown Los Angeles. Smaller protests. But there has been some destruction.
Kathryn Barger is a pleasure. Thank you so much for speaking to us this morning.
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