Dem. governors to describe resistance to federal immigration enforcement at hearing
On Thursday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: Paste BN White House Correspondent Bart Jansen tells us how three Democratic governors today will push back against federal immigration enforcement actions during a House hearing. President Donald Trump and Chinese officials announced they have agreed to a framework for a trade deal. Paste BN Senior National Political Correspondent Sarah D. Wire explains what to expect during "No Kings" Day protests this weekend. They'll be held the same day as President Trump's military parade. Harvey Weinstein has been convicted on a sex-crimes charge and acquitted on another in a retrial. Brian Wilson dies at 82.
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Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Thursday, June 12th, 2025. This is The Excerpt. Today, how several Democratic governors are set to go after federal immigration enforcement during a hearing today, plus what to know about this weekend's No Kings Day protests, and we remember Brian Wilson.
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Nearly 400 people have been arrested since recent protests began, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Protests were spurred by ICE sweeps under President Trump's directive to find immigrants living in the United States without legal status. Dozens of people have also been arrested in other cities, including New York and San Francisco. Meanwhile, officials said yesterday that Marines will join National Guard troops on the streets of L.A. within two days. Protests in Los Angeles have been largely peaceful but mixed with violence, mostly in its downtown area. Meanwhile, three Democratic governors today are expected to criticize federal immigration enforcement in a House hearing.
I spoke with Paste BN White House Correspondent Bart Jansen to learn more about that. Bart, thanks for joining me.
Bart Jansen:
Thanks for having me.
Taylor Wilson:
So Bart, what is this hearing set for later today? What will its focus be?
Bart Jansen:
House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, wanted to hold a hearing to reveal or emphasize how some jurisdictions refuse to help federal immigration authorities track down and detain and eventually deport undocumented immigrants. The philosophy of these Democratic jurisdictions is that they don't want to contribute to these harsher federal enforcement policies under the Trump administration, and so Comer wants to basically shine a spotlight on that.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. So starting with New York Governor Kathy Hochul, what do we expect to hear from her today, Bart?
Bart Jansen:
Each of the three say that they cooperate with federal authorities for immigrants convicted of crimes. So somebody finishes up serving a prison sentence, they say, "Well, here's your guy," turn them over, and then the feds can deport the person. And so there's not much of a dispute about that. The fuss is over what happens with this civil enforcement. And so Kathy Hochul, for example, says, hey, they've referred 1,300 immigrants to federal authorities during the nearly four years that she's been in office. And so there is cooperation, but she says enforcing civil laws such as somebody overstaying a visa is not worth the time of their law enforcement officials who have more important things to do chasing down violent criminals. So she's basically saying it's a federal responsibility and so the feds should take care of it.
Taylor Wilson:
Some Democratic leaders, Bart, have called out what they say is the use of immigrants as political pawns. How is Illinois Governor JB Pritzker leaning in on this?
Bart Jansen:
That's right. Pritzker got busloads of immigrants sent from southern border states sent up to the Chicago area in Illinois, and so he says that they were wielded as pawns and trying to dehumanize them in an attempt to leverage the crisis for basically Republican political gain. But he says Chicago, Cook County, other jurisdictions responded by trying to organize housing for these folks and help them find jobs under federal programs that allow work authorization for some types of immigrants when they come from very troubled regions. There were temporary programs where if you were from a specific country such as Venezuela, that you could get a work authorization and protection from deportation while either you're under the temporary program or while perhaps you're seeking asylum. And so Pritzker says that's the way that Illinois has tried to stay true to the virtues of the land of Lincoln.
Taylor Wilson:
Of course, Minnesota governor Tim Walz made headlines when he was tapped as Democratic candidate Kamala Harris's running mate. What will we hear from him today, Bart?
Bart Jansen:
Well, one thing he does want to point out is that his state is not a sanctuary state. This is the phrase that both sides use to describe jurisdictions that resist cooperating with federal authorities on civil immigration enforcement. He says Minnesota hasn't approved that sort of a law, but that the state level respects cities and counties within Minnesota that do have those policies. And so it's a bit of a fine distinction, but he says that folks in Minnesota find the Trump Administration's immigration policies cruel and misguided, and says that folks are angry that the government will be snatching people up, as he says, and trying to deport them for what Democrats tend to characterize as less serious offenses such as overstaying a visa.
Taylor Wilson:
Okay. We'll see how this hearing lands with the Trump Administration and the American people later today. Bart Jansen covers the White House for Paste BN. Thanks, Bart.
Bart Jansen:
Thanks for having me.
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Taylor Wilson:
President Trump and Chinese officials announced they have agreed to a framework for a trade deal between the two countries, setting tariffs, allowing students to attend U.S. universities, and easing restrictions on trade in rare earths. Trump announced on social media yesterday that the U.S. would collect 55% tariffs on Chinese imports and China would collect 10% on U.S. imports. Trump said Chinese students would be allowed to attend U.S. colleges and universities, and China will supply rare earths that are key to manufacturing technology, he said. Aides to Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping were more tentative in their announcements. China's Vice Commerce Minister said a trade framework had been reached in principle and it would be shared with the two leaders. The announcement came after two days of intense negotiations in London seeking to resolve a near halt in trade between the countries after Trump imposed 145% tariffs on Chinese imports. Trump's tariffs roiled global markets and cost companies tens of billions of dollars in lost sales and higher costs.
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On Saturday, the U.S. Army will mark its 250th anniversary with a pomp-filled procession through the streets of the nation's capitol, and the date also falls on President Trump's 79th birthday. At the same time, protests will be held around the country dubbed No Kings Day.
I spoke with Paste BN Senior National Political Correspondent Sarah D. Wire to find out more. Sarah, thanks for joining me.
Sarah D. Wire:
Thanks for having me.
Taylor Wilson:
So just starting with this, tell us about what is planned for these protests and who are the organizers?
Sarah D. Wire:
So these protests are called the No Kings Day protests, and they were inspired by the idea that Trump is taking more authority than he has allowed under the Constitution. And the organizers want to show that America doesn't accept kings, they don't bow down. And it was specifically put on June 14th because it's Flag Day, but also there's the military parade in Washington, and it's also Trump's birthday. The organizers are some of the really big progressive groups that have been out there for a few years. Also, some of the groups that have popped up since the election. These are particularly interesting to me because there's a lot of veterans groups involved.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, help us understand, if you would, Sarah, what the expected size and scope is here and where will these take place?
Sarah D. Wire:
So there is no protest in Washington this time. These protests are going to take place in big and small towns all over the country. The biggest one is expected to be in Philadelphia where the Second Continental Conference met, but these are going to be all over. It's really designed so that anyone who wants to attend will probably find one within 25 miles at their house.
Taylor Wilson:
That decision to avoid Washington, I want to just go back to that for a second. Why are they doing that?
Sarah D. Wire:
They didn't want to feed into any narrative that they were perhaps anti-veteran. They didn't want to give Trump the ability to speak to that. That's another reason that they encouraged having so many veterans attend these events as well.
Taylor Wilson:
You're right here that the American flag imagery is really intentional as part of all this. Can you talk through that?
Sarah D. Wire:
They wanted to retake that image that has been so closely wrapped up around Republicans and MAGA in the last decade or so. They say that the most patriotic thing they can do is to stand up to authority that's being misused, and they said that they feel like they're the patriots.
Taylor Wilson:
Yeah. This is a big day for Trump with this military installation. It's also his birthday. How is he responding, I guess, to these planned protests?
Sarah D. Wire:
At first, he said that any protester would be met by very large force. He didn't make a distinction between violent and nonviolent protest. The White House kind of walked that back and said, "Of course the president welcomes peaceful protesters." Even said it was a silly question.
Taylor Wilson:
The timing here is interesting. Obviously we've seen these protests in Los Angeles and elsewhere. What impact, if any, might these recent protests have on how organizers are approaching this day?
Sarah D. Wire:
The organizers say it's not going to change anything firmly about the day. What they're seeing is that the number of protesters and the number of protests is spiking. They went from about 1,800 planned protests to over 2,000, and they're expecting that some of these organic immigration protests that have started over the last week are going to get absorbed into Saturday's events. And so they're expecting to see numbers in the millions rather than in the hundreds of thousands.
Taylor Wilson:
Wow. All right. We'll see how things shake out on Saturday. Sarah D. Wire covers national politics for Paste BN. Thanks, Sarah.
Sarah D. Wire:
Thanks for having me.
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Taylor Wilson:
Harvey Weinstein has been convicted in a New York sex crimes retrial. Yesterday, a 12-person jury handed down one guilty verdict and acquitted him on another charge after days of deliberation. The jury found Weinstein guilty of a first-degree criminal sexual act, which stemmed from his assault of former production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006. And the jury found Weinstein not guilty of a second, first-degree criminal sexual act charge stemming from his alleged assault of Kaja Sokola in 2002 when she was a 16-year-old aspiring actress. The jury has not yet reached a verdict on the third count of third-degree rape and will continue deliberations today. Weinstein faces up to decades of additional prison time. He's already serving a 16-year prison sentence after being found guilty in 2022 of rape in California.
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The word genius is probably thrown around too much, but not many would argue its use when talking about Brian Wilson, the man whose Beach Boys songs helped define a revved up era of American popular music has died. Despite decades away from the musical mainstream in the '70s and '80s when his psychological torments were most aggressive, Wilson's towering impact was never in question. The harmonizing on beach and car theme tunes like California Girls came to define the Southern California ethos, while the inspired orchestration on the Wilson-produced album Pet Sounds caused The Beatles to respond with Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. In later years, he would be diagnosed as having schizoaffective disorder, a mental health condition marked by hallucinations, depression, and paranoia, though he was reinvigorated in some of his final years under medical care. Brian Wilson was 82.
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And later today, it's been a busy few months of federal pardons in President Trump's second administration. While acts of presidential clemency are enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, some of the president's most recent pardons are raising ethical concerns in the legal community.
Liz Oyer:
It's becoming almost sort of a business transaction for people who are involved in white collar crime. They're making a calculation that, I can pay X and then I can profit X times 100 on committing white collar crimes, which is not something that we should be encouraging in this manner.
Taylor Wilson:
That was former U.S. Pardon Attorney Liz Oyer, who my colleague Dana Taylor recently sat down with to talk about what's increasingly being called a two-tiered system of justice. You can hear that episode right here today, beginning at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
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And thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio, and as always, you can email us at podcasts@usatoday.com. I'm Taylor Wilson. I'll be back tomorrow with more The Excerpt from Paste BN.