June 9, 2025

LA Protests Explained: Why Newsom Is Suing Trump Over National Guard Deployment (Plus: TSA Bans Costco Cards as ID)

Show Notes
Transcript

Breaking down the Los Angeles immigration protests that turned violent, Governor Gavin Newsom's lawsuit against Trump's unauthorized National Guard deployment, and the bizarre TSA announcement that Costco membership cards don't count as valid travel ID. From downtown LA clashes to constitutional law battles, here's what's really happening in California's standoff with the federal government - plus why your bulk shopping privileges won't get you through airport security.

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Calarogus shark media from Los Angeles, where you've stopped talking

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about the Epstein files. This is ballot. That's right, we're

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wagging the dog here in LA. Let's hit this. So

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Los Angeles is having what we might call a spirited

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disagreement about immigration policy. Three days of protest have turned

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Downtown LA into something that looks like a really intense

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episode of Cops, but with more political overtones and significantly

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better weather. The situation started when President Trump decided to

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send National Guard troops to Los Angeles without asking Governor

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Gavin Newsom first. Now I'm not a relationship expert, but generally,

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when you send military personnel to someone's house without calling ahead,

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that's considered poor etiquette. Newsom was not thrilled about this

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surprise deployment, calling it an attempt to manufacture chaos and violence,

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which is quite an accusation, though to be fair, if

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you wanted to manufacture chaos in Los Angeles, you could

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just close one lane on the four h five during

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rush hour. The National Guard troops themselves have mostly been

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standing around looking official, while the real action happened between

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local protesters and police. Downtown LA turned into a scene

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where officers fired teargas while demonstrators responded by throwing scooters

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and launching fireworks at police cars. Now, I've been to

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Los Angeles and normally when people throw scooters around downtown

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is just because they're trying to find parking. Police Chief

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Jim McDonnell said the violence was getting worse, though he

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was careful to blame people who do this all the

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time rather than actual immigration protesters, which raises the question

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who are these professional protesters? Do they have business cards?

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Is there a union? Are they getting health benefits? By midnight,

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downtown LA looked like the aftermath of a very angry

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block party. Burned cars, broken barricane, and graffiti on government buildings.

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More than one hundred and fifty people were arrested in LA,

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with another sixty arrested in San Francisco during a solidarity protest.

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At this point, California jails are starting to look like

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a political science convention. Meanwhile, most of Los Angeles just

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went about their Sunday as usual. There was a Pride parade,

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concerts at the Hollywood Bowl, and the traditional LA weekend

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activities of sitting in traffic and complaining about parking, which

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really captures the essence of Los Angeles. You can have

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a full scale civil disturbance in one part of the

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city while people in another part are still arguing about

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whether that new juice bar is worth a twenty minute wait.

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Governor Newsom, who has spent most of the year trying

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to play nice with Trump, had a forty minute phone

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call with the President on Friday about these protests, but

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apparently sending troops without permission was where Newsom drew the line.

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It's like having a difficult neighbor who you've been trying

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to get along with, and then they decide to redecorate

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your front yard without asking. Some Trump officials have been

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particularly upset about protesters waving Mexican flags, calling them insurrectionists

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and assuming they're not US citizens. This is a bold strategy,

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determining someone's citizenship status based on which flag they're holding.

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By that logic, everyone at a World Cup party is

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guilty of treason. Historians note this is the first time

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since nineteen sixty five that a president has activated a

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state's national guard without the governor's request. The last time

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was when President Johnson sent troops to Alabama to protect

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civil rights demonstrators. So we've gone from protecting protesters to well,

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this is more complicated. The LAPD is now asking residents

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and businesses to document any vandalism or looting with photographs

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before cleaning it up, which is essentially guessing people to

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create their own crime scene photos. This is like when

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your insurance company wants pictures of your car accident, except

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instead of a fender bender, it's someone's storefront getting redecorated

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without permission. Police had already reported looting on Sixth Street

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and Broadway, which honestly sounds like the setup to a

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very depressing musical Sixth Street and Broadway coming soon to

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a courthouse near you. Meanwhile, the rest of Los Angeles

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continues its Sunday routine of yoga classes, farmers' markets, and

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arguing about whether that new Taco truck is authentic. Governor

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Gavin Newsom is suing Trump over the National Guard deployment.

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Newsom went on MSNBC to announce the lawsuit, saying Trump

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lit the proverbial match and was putting fuel on this fire.

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At this point, California has more combustible metaphors than actual fires,

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which is saying something. The governor's complaint is that Trump

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federalized the California National Guard without asking first. Apparently Trump's

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executive order required coordination with the state governor, but nobody

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bothered to make that phone call. This is like ordering

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pizza to your neighbor's house and then being surprised when

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they're upset about it. Newsom also caught Trump posting on

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truth social that the National Guard was doing a great

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job when they hadn't even been deployed yet. But the

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real entertainment came when Newsom was asked about Borderzar Tom

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Homan threatening to arrest him. Newsom's response was basically, come

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at me, bro, but in gubernatorial language, come after me,

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arrest me. Let's just get it over with, tough guy.

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The TSA has made an important announcement for frequent flyers.

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Your Costco membership card is not, in fact a valid

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form of identification for air travel. I know this comes

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as shocking news to the dozens of people who apparently

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thought their bulk shopping privileges also qualified them for domestic flights.

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The Transportation Security Administration felt compelled to post on Facebook,

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we love hot dogs and rotisserie chickens as much as

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the next person, but please stop telling people their Costco

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card counts as a real ID because it absolutely does not,

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which suggests this has been happening enough that they needed

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to make a public service announcement about it. Somewhere there's

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a TSA agent who has had to explain multiple times

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that buying toilet paper in bulk does not establish your

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identity for federal purposes. The Facebook post got over fifteen

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thousand reactions in seven hundred comments, which is more engagement

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than most government agencies get when they announce actual policy changes.

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One person jokingly asked, so you're saying we should bring

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you a chicken, which honestly might be more useful than

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a Costco card at this point. The confusion apparently stems

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from the gold stars on Costco membership cards, which people

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have been confusing with the stars that appear on real

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ID compliant identification. This is like thinking your movie Theater

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loyalty card gets you into the Pentagon just because it

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has a barcode. The real ID requirement went into effect

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on May seventh, twenty twenty five, which means, as of

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last month, you need actual government issued identification to fly domestically.

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To get a real ID, you need to provide documentation

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showing your full legal name, date of birth, social Security

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number two, proofs of address and lawful status. Notably absent

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from this list, proof that you can buy a gallon

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of mayonnaise for a reasonable price. Real ID compliant cards

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have a star, either a lone star, one in a circle,

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or one in a bear. The Costco card has a

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star too, but it's more of a congratulations. You can

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now buy industrial quantities of peanut butter star rather than

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a The federal government has verified your identity star. Portions

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of today's program were made with the help of la

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AI and ICE