Monday morning news: June 9, 2025

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LA ICE protests » Law enforcement firing tear gas canisters on the streets of Los Angeles Sunday as protests continued against Immigration and Customs Enforcement — or ICE.

Most protesters have been peaceful, but not all.

LA County Sheriff Robert Luna:

LUNA:  Even as I was driving here, I was getting multiple reports of deputies asking for help. LA County deputies being attacked with rocks bottles. That is 100% unacceptable and, uh, we have to defend our employees

Protesters said they wanted ICE out of the city, and were demanding that everyone arrested during immigrant raids be released.

President Trump ordered the deployment of nearly 2,000 National Guard troops to rein in the violence. He told reporters yesterday:

TRUMP:  Well, we're gonna have troops everywhere. We're not gonna let this happen to our country. We're not gonna let our country be torn apart.

And he threatened tougher action. He authorized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to call up active duty forces if necessary.

China trade » Top U.S. and Chinese trade officials are set to meet today in London to talk trade.

That follows a phone call between President Trump and Xi Jinping last week aimed at kickstarting stalled negotiations.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt:

LEAVITT:  We want China and the United States to continue moving forward with the agreement that was struck in Geneva. The administration has been monitoring China's compliance with the deal, uh, and we hope that this will move forward to have more comprehensive trade talks.

That Geneva agreement last month set out the terms of a ceasefire of sorts in the trade war, scaling back tariffs while negotiations moved ahead.

But the two countries haven’t had meaningful trade talks since.

China threats » Meantime, CIA Director John Ratcliffe says the United States is working to combat potential threats from China against the U.S. or its Asian allies.

RATCLIFFE:  We released two, um, Mandarin speaking videos to the Chinese people, uh, inviting them to contact us through the dark web because a lot of the people in China are not happy with what's happening.

His remarks come after federal authorities last week charged two Chinese nationals with attempting to smuggle a potentially dangerous agricultural pathogen into the U.S., raising serious national security concerns.

Some experts cautioned that the fungus is already native to American agriculture.

But authorities charge that the men were looking to conduct unauthorized research, possibly to to enhance its resistance to treatment, which could be used in a targeted attack against U.S. agriculture.

Johnson confident in budget bill » House Speaker Mike Johnson says despite loud opposition from Elon Musk, he’s confident that the GOP budget bill will eventually make it to President Trump’s desk for a signature.

JOHNSON:  Elon's number one responsibility is to save his company, the president and I have the responsibility of saving the country, and that's what this bill does, and we're really excited and proud of this product and we're gonna get it delivered.

The House passed what President Trump calls his ‘big beautiful bill’ last month. The Senate right now is sparring over the legislation.

Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO who just weeks ago headed President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, broke with President Trump over the bill, calling it a “disgusting abomination” that will pile onto the national debt. That disagreement has erupted into a bitter feud between Musk and the president.

GOP Sen. Tim Scott predicted the former allies will iron out their differences.

SCOTT:  I believe it'll be over way before the the Independence Day. The, the good news is these are two strong, powerful men who've worked together to deliver for the American people. One of the reasons why President Trump made promises on the campaign trail and brought Elon on was to make sure that we kept those campaign promises.

White House officials were reportedly trying to schedule a call between President Trump and Musk, but the president told Fox News, he wasn't interested in talking it out.

Abrego Garcia returned to face charges » An illegal immigrant from El Salavdor at the center of a legal and political battle is now back in the United States.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia is reportedly now in a Tennessee jail after he was mistakenly deported back in March. Despite entering the country illegally, a judge had shielded him from deportation.

The Trump administration says he is an MS-13 gang member. Border Czar Tom Homan:

HOMAN:  We're bringing him back here to prosecute him. We're bringing him back here to put him in prison. Then when he is done in prison, guess what? He'll be deported immediately again.

The newly unsealed indictment accuses Abrego Garcia of smuggling thousands of illegal immigrants across the US and of participating in a murder.

His defense attorney calls the new charges preposterous.

Ukraine latest / drone strike numbers » Ukraine released additional video footage over the weekend of drone attacks last week that struck Russian aircraft deep inside Russian territory.

We reported last week that the drone attack destroyed dozens of aircraft. But U.S. intelligence now estimates that roughly 10 aircraft were destroyed, while as many as 10 others were damaged.

The Kremlin has vowed retaliation.

This comes amid stalled efforts to broker a ceasefire. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday:

ZELENSKYY: They don’t want — they don’t want to stop the war. This is the problem.

The latest round of peace talks last week in Turkey did not yield any progress toward a ceasefire.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: The Monday Legal Docket, unpacking unanimous decisions at the Supreme Court. And later, the WORLD History Book.

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