Morning Report — Outcry over handcuffed senator; Israel attacks Iran ...Middle East

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Tensions between the White House and California escalated Thursday when security forced Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) to the floor and handcuffed him at a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) press conference in Los Angeles. 

Meanwhile, a federal appeals court late Thursday temporarily lifted a judge’s order ruling President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles to assist in sweeping Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids illegal.

Padilla was forcibly removed from the room after trying to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about ICE raids in the city that have sparked large-scale protests in recent days. Noem on Thursday vowed to keep up ICE arrests in LA and other cities across the country.

Padilla identified himself as a senator and began asking Noem a question before the altercation. Several men pushed the California Democrat out of the room and later handcuffed him on the ground. 

“I attended Secretary Noem's press conference in hopes of getting some answers. After identifying myself and trying to ask a question, I was aggressively pushed out of the room, forced to the ground, and handcuffed,” Padilla later said in a statement. "If that's what they do to a United States Senator with a question, imagine what they can do to any American that dares to speak up. We will hold this administration accountable."

Padilla noted he was not arrested or detained, despite being handcuffed. The senator denied the Trump administration’s claims that he lunged at Noem during the news conference.

The incident prompted immediate outcry from Democrats and a number of Republicans. 

Multiple congressional Democrats called on Noem to resign, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) denounced the incident. 

“I just saw something that sickened my stomach. The manhandling of a United States senator. We need immediate answers to what the hell went on," he said on the Senate floor.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), who earlier in the week dared the administration to arrest him amid their feud over the president's National Guard deployment in LA, said in a post on the social platform X that Padilla "is one of the most decent people I know." 

"This is outrageous, dictatorial, and shameful," he added. “Trump and his shock troops are out of control. This must end now.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said the video of Padilla being handcuffed was “shocking at every level. It’s not the America I know.”

The White House, meanwhile, said the Democratic senator wanted attention. Noem said Padilla’s behavior was "completely inappropriate" and "not becoming" of a public official. 

▪ The Hill: Democrats seethe after Padilla was forcibly removed from Noem’s press conference.

▪ The Hill: Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Thursday said Padilla should be censured.

▪ CNN: The Trump administration on Thursday told hundreds of thousands of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela that their legal status through a Biden-era parole program is terminated.

The clash punctuated days of tension and debate over Trump's immigration crackdown and a growing legal battle over the limits of the president's efforts to deploy National Guard members and Marines to an American city.

A federal appeals court panel late Thursday temporarily lifted a judge’s order ruling Trump’s deployment of the National Guard illegal, enabling the troops to remain assisting with immigration raids in Los Angeles, for now. The ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals landed mere hours after U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ordered the president to return control of the troops to Newsom by today at Noon Pacific time.

Meanwhile, the military said that by tonight, roughly 700 active-duty Marines were expected to join 2,100 National Guard troops that have been guarding federal property and personnel in Los Angeles. The commander overseeing the military operations said on Wednesday that the Marines were at a naval base south of the city, and that 2,000 additional Guard troops had begun training on Thursday, The New York Times reported.

As protests roil Los Angeles, Newsom is doing what Democrats want: punching back against the administration while on the offensive about immigration and executive power controversies. 

"While it's been a horrible week for the country, Gov. Newsom has been a credible voice of so many people's discontent and anxiety about Trump's America," Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons told The Hill’s Amie Parnes. “Democrats want people who can take on Donald Trump and he is seen as someone who has been taking him on.”

As protests against ICE raids continue, Newsom is giving speeches, interviews and using social media, including with The New York Times’s “The Daily” podcast. The Times dissected his remarks in a separate article.

The Atlantic: The protesters gathered in downtown LA are a microcosm of the Democratic coalition that has dominated the city for decades.

“NO KINGS”: Beyond LA, a number of “No Kings” demonstrations are expected this weekend nationwide to coincide with a Saturday military parade in Washington, D.C., to mark the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday. When asked to respond to the protests, Trump quipped: “I don’t feel like a king; I have to go through hell to get stuff approved.”

▪ BBC: What to expect at Trump's military parade and “No Kings” protests.

▪ The Hill: Here are five things to know about Trump’s $45 million Washington, D.C., military parade on Saturday. (Afternoon rain is in the forecast.)

SMART TAKE with NewsNation’s BLAKE BURMAN:

Did President Trump drop a hint about where he might draw a line on deportations? On Thursday, he previewed action his administration could take regarding workers without legal status in the agriculture and leisure industries.  

“They’re not citizens, but they’ve turned out to be great and we’re going to have to do something about that,” he said at the White House.  

I asked Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.), a member of the House Agriculture Committee, how she believes this should be handled.

“We have to figure out a way to get folks who want to work — maybe not even be citizens — but if they want to work, we should accommodate that,” she said. 

Will the House Republican Conference take that position? We wait to see where the president goes from here.  

Burman hosts “The Hill” weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation.

3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY:

▪ The National Weather Service hasn’t staffed back up for hurricane season. Jobs still haven’t been refilled after drastic cuts, though the administration said it plans to rehire some staff.

▪ The administration appears to be pausing plans to send up to 9,000 migrants to Guantánamo Bay in Cuba. 

▪ Pope Leo XIV on Saturday will address Chicagoans with a “special video message to the young people of the world,” broadcast during a White Sox celebration. 

LEADING THE DAY

© The Associated Press | Vahid Salemi

ISRAEL ATTACKS IRAN: In what Israel said was a “preemptive strike” on Iran’s nuclear program and other military targets, Israeli forces launched a series of airstrikes inside the country overnight, dealing a severe blow to Tehran’s military leadership. The remarkable show of intelligence and military force prompted threats of retaliation and raised fears of a wider regional conflict. In response, Iran launched more than 100 drones toward Israel. 

The Israeli attack, which targeted Iranian nuclear facilities and military sites, came as Trump and his administration have been working for weeks to reach a deal with Tehran on a nuclear agreement. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday evening the U.S. was not involved in the strikes in an effort to distance Washington from getting in between the two adversaries.

Hours before the strikes in Iran, Trump had cautioned that an Israeli strike would threaten the U.S.’s nuclear talks. The president, who is scheduled to meet with members of the National Security Council this morning, urged Iran to accept a nuclear deal with the U.S.  

"There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end," he wrote on Truth Social.

In a televised address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the goal of the operation was “to damage Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, its ballistic missile factories and military capabilities” and vowed the fighting would last “as many days as it takes.”

“We struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. We struck at the heart of Iran’s nuclear weaponization program. We targeted Iran’s leading nuclear scientists working on the Iranian bomb. We also struck at the heart of Iran’s ballistic missile program,” Netanyahu said in a Friday morning video statement. 

Israel’s strikes killed three senior Iranian commanders, including Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Israeli strikes also killed the senior IRGC commander Gholam Ali Rashid, along with at least two prominent nuclear scientists — Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi and Fereydoun Abbasi. Iran’s government has not given a complete tally of casualties but said a number of civilians had been killed, including children.

▪ The New York Times: Israel’s ambition: destroy the heart of Iran’s nuclear program. It may take days, or weeks, to assess how far Israel has set back Iran’s atomic capabilities.

▪ Politico: The president ran on ending forever wars. But Israel’s Thursday night strike on Iran could force his hand.

▪ CNN: Trump didn’t want Israel to strike. They did it anyway.

▪ Axios: Israel's strike on Iran was eight months in the making.

▪ The Atlantic: Israel’s bold, risky attack.

RUSSIA AND UKRAINE: Rubio congratulated the Russian people on Russia Day on Thursday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha‎ slammed countries that extended good wishes to Moscow. Before Rubio, no senior U.S. official had congratulated Russia on its national day since Moscow began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. No other allied Western leaders have done so this year either.

▪ ABC News: A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce on Thursday appeared to downplay what Trump said Wednesday was a "done" trade deal.

▪ The Wall Street Journal: More than 240 are dead after an Air India crash in Ahmedabad, including fatalities on the ground. One passenger survived.

▪ CBS News: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testified that the Pentagon has "plans for any contingency" when asked about taking over Greenland by force.

WHERE AND WHEN

ZOOM IN

© The Associated Press | Alex Brandon 

? In a victory for the administration, Johnson and for other conservative Republicans who favor less federal spending, the House on Thursday narrowly approved clawing back $9.4 billion in previously enacted appropriations now targeted by the Trump White House as unwanted. House Republicans cast the rescissions as a down payment on debt reduction.

The vote was 214-212 to rescind $8.3 billion in foreign aid and $1.1 billion in federal backing for public broadcasting. GOP Reps. Mark Amodei of Nevada, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Nicole Malliotakis of New York and Mike Turner of Ohio opposed the bill.

House progressives, seething over DHS’s physical manhandling of a U.S. senator in California, were quick on Thursday to question Trump’s political motives in targeting the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, an organization some House Republicans say they support because the programming is popular with viewers in their districts.

“What is happening here is that Donald Trump and Elon Musk took illegal actions to cut congressionally appropriated funding, so now Trump’s minions in Congress are going back and cleaning up for him,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said in a statement, referring to Department of Government Efficiency moves to halt funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development and to slash contracts and federal support for programs Trump opposes as too liberal or wasteful. 

“This is a thinly veiled attempt to sidestep court orders that have demanded the Trump administration reinstate illegally gutted funding,” Jayapal continued.

DESALINATION? How to navigate around GOP sticking points, such as internal discord over whether to expand the state and local tax (SALT) deduction? Leave it blank. Some senators suggest the Finance Committee text will be released today or perhaps Monday. The fine print — and missing mentions — will be key to unresolved tax negotiations.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) met with Trump Thursday at the White House. It was the second such meeting between Thune and the president this week. Crapo wants to shrink the House deal to expand the SALT deduction to offset the costs of making some business tax breaks permanent, a sign that Senate Republicans are not shy about changing politically sensitive areas of a mammoth House measure that passed by a single vote last month.

Republicans are laying the groundwork for a “total tax cliff” at the end of Trump’s term, meaning conservative tax cuts, which are expensive in any budget, would switch off. 

“It means that’s going to be an issue in the next presidential race,” House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) said this week.

▪ Politico: Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) late Thursday released his committee’s proposals for the megabill, which would include a host of new fees for immigration applicants and tens of billions in funding for ICE.

▪ The Hill: The Senate on Thursday confirmed former Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.) to lead the IRS.

▪ The Hill: The Senate expects to vote next week on stablecoin legislation that would establish regulatory rules for the dollar-backed cryptocurrencies. 

ELSEWHERE

© The Associated Press | Julia Demaree Nikhinson

SEEING RED WHILE TALKING BLUE: Sparks flew as a trio of Democratic governors clashed with Republicans over immigration policy on Capitol Hill on Thursday.

A nearly eight-hour House hearing with Democratic Govs. Kathy Hochul of New York, JB Pritzker of Illinois and Tim Walz of Minnesota focused on so-called sanctuary states and jurisdictions amid nationwide protests as Trump amps up immigration arrests and deportations and deployed National Guard and Marines in California. There is no legal standard for the term sanctuary city, state or jurisdiction.

But Republicans use the terminology to accuse Democratic officials in blue states and some left-leaning districts of refusing cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

“Let me be clear: Sanctuary policies do not protect Americans. They protect criminal illegal aliens,” House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said in a statement. 

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), a Trump ally who has gubernatorial ambitions and an emerging potential platform for a campaign next year, slammed Hochul over recent crimes in New York state committed by migrants living in the country without legal status. 

“This is Kathy Hochul’s New York. It’s one of the many reasons why you’re hemorrhaging support from hardworking New York families,” Stefanik said. “They’re horrific crimes that are committed on your watch.”

“We deserve a governor who stands up for New Yorkers, who doesn’t put illegals first but actually puts New Yorkers first,” she continued.

The Hill: “Here’s my political advice for Elise Stefanik: Run, Elise, run,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told reporters on Thursday.

OPINION

■ The real siege of Los Angeles, by León Krauze, columnist, The Washington Post.

■ Brazil, Venezuela and Cuba are rolling out the red carpet for Iran, by Arturo McFields, opinion contributor, The Hill.

THE CLOSER

© The Associated Press | Rick Bowmer

And finally … ??? Congratulations to this week’s Morning Report Quiz winners! Intrigued by the latest international trade challenge (“rare earths”), we asked about metals known as Lanthanides.

Here are savvy readers who went 4/4: Richard E. Baznik, Chuck Schoenenberger, Gary Kalian, Mark R. Williamson, Jenessa Wagner, Linda L. Field, Joe Atchue, Carmine Petracca, Brian Hogan, Tim Barrack, Michael McGinnis, Rick Schmidtke, Jess Elger, Albert B. Wolf, Harry Strulovici, Sari Wisch, Stan Wasser, Dara110560, David W. Newton, Dennis Barksdale, Ray Tacquard, Arturo Jessel, Michael Kitz, Robert Bradley, Carmine Petracca, B. Frater, John Trombetti, Steve James, Mark Roeddiger, Pam Manges, Albert B. Wolf and John van Santen.

They knew that China cornered the market on coveted oxides found in Earth’s crust.

California is home to the only company (located in Mountain Pass) that mines rare earth minerals in the U.S.

Only some Lanthanides, or “rare earths,” that are mined on the planet actually are rare and scarce while others are common, so the answer we looked for was “No.” 

On our quiz menu of U.S. industries, the most dependent on Lanthanides is the auto industry.

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