--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Michael Simon-Johnson, in for Tracy Mumford. Today's Monday, June 9th.
--:-- Livia Albeck-Ripka: I'm Livia Albeck-Ripka, a reporter with the New York Times, based in Los Angeles. I'm here at the protests.
--:-- Livia Albeck-Ripka: For days, federal authorities and local police have clashed with demonstrators over the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration. The authorities have been firing crowd control munitions into the crowd, tear gas. The protest just keeps growing and people are chanting. They're holding Mexican flags, and we're just waiting to see what happens next.
--:-- Livia Albeck-Ripka: Authorities say they've arrested hundreds of migrants in the L.A. region in the past few days. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, says many of those arrested have criminal backgrounds.
--:-- Livia Albeck-Ripka: The clashes between protesters and authorities kicked off on Friday, when ICE officers began combing through Los Angeles' Garment District, searching for undocumented immigrants. And as word of the raid spread, protesters gathered and demonstrations expanded to nearby cities.
--:-- Livia Albeck-Ripka: Some protesters threw eggs, rocks, and scooters, and aimed fireworks at immigration officers who responded with pepper spray, flash grenades, and foam projectiles.
--:-- Host: We're not going to let this happen to our country. We're not going to let our country be torn apart like it was under Biden.
--:-- Adam Nagurney: In response to the protests, President Trump started to deploy National Guard troops. He said he would deploy 2,000 of them. By Sunday, nearly 300 members of the National Guard were in the area and 500 Marines were put on standby.
--:-- Adam Nagurney: The move to send in federal troops essentially bypassed the authority of California Governor Gavin Newsom and relied on a rarely used law meant for quelling rebellion against the U.S. government.
--:-- Adam Nagurney: On Sunday, Newsom pushed back, calling the move a breach of state sovereignty and demanding that Trump pull the troops off the streets.
--:-- Adam Nagurney: This confrontation between a sitting governor and a sitting president is extraordinary.
--:-- Adam Nagurney: It's the first time a president has activated a state's National Guard without a request from that governor since 1965, when President Lyndon B Johnson sent troops to Alabama to protect civil rights protesters.
--:-- Adam Nagurney: Not only did Gavin Newsom formally call on the White House to rescind the order, he accused Trump of taking actions designed to cause strife and stir up tensions and set off more of the protests that we've seen on the streets of Los Angeles.
--:-- Adam Nagurney: As long as these demonstrations are going on, it's hard to imagine either man backing down.
--:-- Host: Now, two more quick updates from the Trump administration.
--:-- Host: First, President Trump's new travel ban went into effect this morning. The ban was first announced last week, and it keeps citizens from 12 countries, mostly in Africa and the Middle East, from entering the U.S.
--:-- Host: There's also visa restrictions for seven other countries, including Cuba and Venezuela. There are exceptions for people who have existing visas or green cards, but those immigrants who are already in the U.S. have growing concerns about traveling out of the country, and many families are bracing for extended time apart as travel and reunion plans are upended.
--:-- Host: Some governments have lashed out over the decision, with one Venezuelan official calling the Trump administration, quote, fascist.
--:-- Host: And Abrego Garcia has landed in the United States to face justice. After months of saying that the U.S. was incapable of returning him to U.S. soil, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Friday that Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the man who had been wrongfully deported to El Salvador back in March, is now back in the U.S. to face criminal charges.
--:-- Host: He's been formally charged with smuggling migrants as part of the street gang MS-13. If convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of 10 years for each person he allegedly transported.
--:-- Host: Upon completion of a sentence, we anticipate he will be returned to his home country of El Salvador.
--:-- Host: The administration could still face contempt proceedings for its initial refusal to return Abrego Garcia despite a court order. And Abrego Garcia's lawyers are pushing for the judge to continue those proceedings.
--:-- Host: The Times has learned that YouTube has quietly changed how it moderates content on its platform in the wake of the Trump presidency.
--:-- Host: After years of removing videos that violated its rules against misinformation and derogatory language, YouTube is now encouraging content moderators to leave those videos up if they are in the public interest.
--:-- Host: That includes content that focuses on topics like race, sexuality, abortion, immigration, and censorship.
--:-- Host: YouTube didn't make this announcement publicly. We learned about it by reviewing materials that were shared with content moderators in mid-December as they began to train content moderators about what should stay on YouTube and what should be pulled off.
--:-- Tripp Mickel: My colleague Tripp Mickel covers technology for The Times. He says YouTube is following in the footsteps of other social media companies like X and Meta, which have loosened their content moderation rules.
--:-- Tripp Mickel: The new policy is more lenient to content that is considered educational or has artistic merit.
--:-- Tripp Mickel: Before, if just a quarter of a video had violated the rules, it was removed. Now, up to half of the content can violate YouTube's policy and remain online.
--:-- Tripp Mickel: In the course of these training materials, they also provided some examples of what this would look like for content moderators.
--:-- Tripp Mickel: And one of the videos they talked about was one titled, RFK Jr. Delivers Sledgehammer Blows to Gene-Altering Jabs, which of course is a reference to vaccines.
--:-- Tripp Mickel: In the past, this kind of video would have violated YouTube's policy against medical misinformation by incorrectly saying that COVID vaccines could alter people's genes.
--:-- Tripp Mickel: But in the future, under this new policy, the training material said that the video shouldn't be removed because it was newsworthy, because it was about RFK, the Department of Health and Human Services secretary.
--:-- Tripp Mickel: And it also mentioned other political figures, including Vice President J.D. Vance, Elon Musk, and Megyn Kelly, which boosted its quote-unquote newsworthiness.
--:-- Tripp Mickel: The Times asked YouTube about the changes. The company said they'd only impact a small number of videos, that it retires policies that no longer make any sense, like on COVID, and that their main goal is to protect freedom of expression while mitigating harm.
--:-- Host: But critics say YouTube's reputation, as a largely legitimate source of information, is exactly why the platform should be more rigorous with content moderation.
--:-- Host: Unlike Meta, which has a lot of content that's just written by people and goes directly up, YouTube videos tend to be more time-consuming, they're more thoughtful.
--:-- Host: They also put up on a platform that has a fairly prestigious brand reputation, one that is kind of validating because people go there for how videos on everything from like how to hang a curtain rod to how to do yoga.
--:-- Host: And so when you mix potentially inflammatory videos alongside those kind of like established and well-regarded videos, the inflammatory videos could have more standing in the eyes of a viewer.
--:-- Host: And that's something that critics are a little bit concerned about with this change.
--:-- Host: And finally, the Tony Awards were last night, capping off a banger season for Broadway. It was the highest grossing year on record, not adjusted for inflation, with celebrity-driven productions like George Clooney's Good Night and Good Luck and Denzel Washington's Othello breaking box office records with their eye-popping and wallet-gouging ticket prices.
--:-- Host: But many of those famous faces went home last night empty-handed, or in the case of Denzel, didn't even get nominated.
--:-- Host: Here are some of the big winners of the night. Maybe Happy Ending, which explores love and relationships through futuristic robots, won Best New Musical.
--:-- Host: We taught the world new ways to dream. Sunset Boulevard won Best Musical Revival, and its star, pop singer Nicole Scherzinger, took home a Tony of her own.
--:-- Host: And Cole Escola beat out George Clooney for Best Actor in a Play, playing an exaggerated version of Abe Lincoln's wife, Mary Todd.
--:-- Host: In my version, Mary is a frustrated alcoholic. cabaret performer. It's that classic tale of art imitating life. My life, not hers.
--:-- Host: Escola says they spent more than a decade working on the play, tinkering with the idea and, quote, painstakingly avoiding any research.
--:-- Host: Those are the headlines. Today on The Daily, a look at Trump's critical decisions over the past few days involving the protests in Los Angeles and his very public fight with Elon Musk.
--:-- Host: That's next in The New York Times audio app or listen wherever you get your podcasts.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: I'm Michael Simon-Johnson. I'll be here for the next two weeks and we'll be back tomorrow.
