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June 13, 2025 16 mins
ICYMI: ‘Later, with Mo’Kelly’ Presents – Thoughts on the incident involving Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla being handcuffed and forcibly removed from Kristi Noem’s immigration press conference w/ Spectrum News 1 Reporter, and friend of the program, Jo Kwon, who was in the room when it happened - on KFI AM 640…Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app & YouTube @MrMoKelly
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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:22):
I Am six forty and YouTube were live everywhere in
the iHeartRadio app in the room where it happened. If
you know Hamilton, you know that song, you know to
what it's referring. But what if I told you about
someone who was in the room where it happened and
when it happened. The biggest story of the day of
a bunch of big stories right now at least, is

(00:44):
Senator Alex Padilla of California and his forcible removal from
the roy Ball Conference Center room in which there was
a press conference being given by Secretary of Homeland Security
Christy Nolan joining me on this sh right now. His
spectrum news is Joe Kwan, who was in the room

(01:05):
where it happened and in the room when it happened.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Jo Quan is good to talk to you tonight.

Speaker 3 (01:11):
Hey mo, Yeah, it was huh a wild wild day.
I would say, first, you know word that US Homeland
Security Secretary Christi num was going to be here, so
we're all here in the room. She just started speaking
for a few minutes and then suddenly and I'm holding

(01:33):
a camera. It's a long story, but you have to
go through a lot of screening when you go to
the Federal building understandably. So it's the one at the
corner of a veteran in Wiltshire, just right off the
four or five in case you don't know where it
is or your audience as no word is. And so
I was up there, rushed up there, ended up, you know,
having to hold the camera because my photog didn't quite
make it in. And I hear a voice from the

(01:56):
right side just a few minutes into the press conference.
I have a question, and I have a question. Then
from my peripheral vision, I see somebody walking like assertively
I would say, not sauntering, in kind of in a
relaxed pose. Right, I have a question. I have a question,
And then suddenly you see four or five guys push

(02:20):
Senator Alex Padilla, who I looked over and I didn't
know at first because you know, he was in a
plane blue navy jacket, not in a suit orning, not
that senators always have to wear a suit, but he
you know, he said hands off, hands off. Then he said,
I'm Senator Alex Padilla. And so when you have DHS

(02:42):
ice FBI, you're in the FBI, you know, Los Angeles headquarters.
There I security already, and I don't need to remind everybody,
but when President Trump was a candidate at the time,
there was an attempt on his life, so you would
imagine that the level of secure curity is probably even hired.
Probably and just being in the federal building, so I mean,

(03:06):
I think he could have came in and said, Hi,
I'm Alex Padia, because I don't know that you can
expect any administra, anybody on the administration, whether it's this
administration a past administration, to know the face of all
the senators he led with to have a question and
then yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
Joe, let me jump in there because I want to
provide some context.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
I agree with you.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
I wouldn't expect the Secretary of Homeland Security to know
the face of all senators, but I would expect her
to know the face of the center in California. And
also Alex Padia is the chair of the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship,
and Border Safety that's an adjunct to Homeland Security. He
is on the Subcommittee of Criminal Justice and counter Terrorism
and adjunct of Homeland Security, and he's also on the

(03:52):
Subcommittee of Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights.
Obviously connected to immigration. I only put that out out
there because I've been in a number of federal facilities
and courtrooms in federal buildings, and I know, and you've
already touched upon it, the amount of security is tremendous.
But for Alspadia to actually get in that room, not

(04:14):
only was he escorted up, he was escorted in. I'm
thinking he's a known quantity at that point. They're not
just escorting random people.

Speaker 3 (04:23):
Well, so what I was told by a source, he
well two things. He did come out and talk to
the media very briefly after saying that he did have
a meeting in the building semi related, but not with
knowledge of Gnome and all that. I was told by
a source that he was on a different floor, heard

(04:46):
about the press conference, came up to it, and was
able to walk in again sort of like assertively. And
you know, I just think the approach was probably a
bit maybe taken aback, especially just in the atmosphere of
all the things that have been happening this week and

(05:06):
just everything in general. To be honest, twenty twenty five
has been a year, and to be honest, being in
that room and you know, having been out at the
protest I don't know if I'm just on high alert,
but hearing a man walk in and say I have
a question, I didn't know what was going on, And
to be honest, I was kind of scared because I

(05:28):
wasn't able to look fully because I was holding a camera.
And then I looked to the rights and then through
the crowd, and I heard him say I'm Sador alex Vidia.
He was being dragged out and then handcuffed.

Speaker 1 (05:43):
So let me ask you this, and I want to
get a sense of other people in the room and
their reactions to the best of your knowledge, and that
you could let us know. When I look at the video,
it didn't seem like anyone was apprehensive or worried that
this might have been a threat, especially not the FBI whomever,

(06:04):
because they were trying to get him out of the room.
They weren't trying to jump on him in that moment,
and I suspect that if he were perceived as a threat,
they would have all jumped on him in that moment.

Speaker 3 (06:17):
I think. So when he walked in, it didn't look
like I mean, just again, I wasn't looking. I just
heard a voice. And again I might be on high
alert because just being on protests this week and all that.
You got to watch your back, head on a swivel.
But I mean he walked in probably took five six
assertive steps. So the setup of the room was there

(06:37):
were two rows of chairs, the podium was in the
center in front of those two rows of chairs, and
then all the cameras in the back of those two
rows of chairs. So there wasn't a lot of distance
from the entrance of the door to where the secretary
was along with PBP, you know, ice FBI, So there
wasn't a lot of time for people you react or

(07:00):
have any kind of reaction. But I can tell you
four or five guys jumped on Alex DiDia real quick,
pushed him on the wall because again again you know,
he didn't identify himself until he had said I have
a question, I have a question. Then it was hands off,
hands of I am Senator Alex Didya. That was sort
of the order in which the words came out of

(07:23):
the mouth, and everybody was looking at the secretary because
she was in the middle of just starting to speak.
So I don't know that we even had the time
to react other than me just feeling a little bit
you know on edge.

Speaker 1 (07:39):
Did Secretary Gnomes say anything in the moment? Did she acknowledge,
like yes, I recognize him or the agent?

Speaker 2 (07:47):
She did nothing.

Speaker 3 (07:48):
He paused for a moment because obviously there's a little
bit of a disturbance. Then all the cameras kind of
swung over there, but she because I kept recording, you
can hear he continued talking and then we all swung back. Joeunk.
She didn't acknowledge that until the Q and A portion
of the press conference.

Speaker 1 (08:09):
Joquan, can I get you to hold over for one
more segment because I know you did ask Secretary Nome
a question, so I want to know what you asked
her and then what was her response. If you just
tuning in, I'm speaking with Joquan of Spectrum News. We're
talking about what happened today between Secretary of Homeland Security
Christy Nome and also California Senator Alex Padia. You haven't
heard this anywhere else. We got an exclusive from someone

(08:31):
who was in the room, where and when it happened.
More with Joequan in just a moment.

Speaker 4 (08:36):
You're listening to later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty.

Speaker 2 (08:41):
KFI AM six forty and YouTube.

Speaker 1 (08:43):
We're live everywhere in the iHeartRadio app if you just
tuning in. We're speaking with Joe Kwan of Spectrum News.
We're talking about the events earlier today in that federal
building in which California Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly removed
from the press conference of Secretary Christy Nome and Joe Kwan.
Let me bring you back into the conversation. You were

(09:06):
not just a passive observer, you will also an active participant.
You got in a question to Secretary Nome. First, what
did you ask and how does she answer? Did she answer?

Speaker 3 (09:16):
Yes, she did answer. I asked her because a lot
of the stuff we've been hearing is, you know, from
both sides from the Trump administration saying that they are
going after the worst of the worst violent criminals. You
also hear from some other groups that say the people

(09:36):
they're going after may include people without criminal history, without
a criminal history. So I asked her to address that
because that's the big question that everybody wants to know,
how many have a criminal history? Who are these people?
And of course they have been releasing some of that
information very actively on their ex account. And you know,

(09:57):
she did answer it. At first she said, you know,
new it or all that kind of stuff, but then said, yeah,
within some of the some of those criminals that we
are taking in, there are some she said in her words, collateral,
so people who've been living with them or around them.
I don't know if she she didn't specify if she

(10:18):
was talking about family or things like that, and she
said that, you know, those people obviously will have to
vet them. And then she took that as an opportunity
to also say that as a reminder, entering this country
is illegal and we have to adjut or we have
to go through the process with the people who are

(10:38):
those quote that she called collateral as well. So, I mean,
you know, this has been a question that's been ongoing
and kind of the I would say, just hearing from
protesters the sort of impetus for causing some of the
uprising in addition to obviously there are some those bad
players as well with the protests doing certain things, you know,

(11:02):
burning cars and such that we've seen the last few days.
But yeah, she did answer it.

Speaker 1 (11:07):
Did Secretary Gnomes go into any detail as far as
the types of practices or procedures tactics which are being
employed that people have had an issue with.

Speaker 3 (11:18):
She didn't. She really stuck to the messaging that we
have heard all along about why they're doing this, you know,
to help keep the streets of La safe. No, they have.
She didn't get into the tactics because maybe that's something
that they're also trying to keep under wraps right as

(11:39):
they do these type of enforcements, because she said, they
have been faced with she I don't remember exact words,
but talking about the response from the community, those people
who want to do bad things, you know, sort of
she said, attacking some of their officers and people trying

(12:01):
to do their jobs in doing these raids.

Speaker 2 (12:06):
Uh Jokwan.

Speaker 1 (12:07):
I have been told, and I've seen a number of
news reports that going back to Senator Padia, that Secretary
Nome and Senator of Padilla did get together for some
short fifteen minute meeting after this incident. Have you been
apprised as far as what was discussed in that meeting.
Was there any type of conciliatory tone struck from either

(12:31):
of both sides. What is the feeling coming away from
that event overall today from the best of your.

Speaker 3 (12:36):
Knowledge, Well, during the Q and a secretary. Nome did
address that, saying that I'll have a conversation with him.
He has you know, he didn't ask for a meeting,
He didn't, you know, reach out to us, but that
she did say after the press conference she had planned
to go talk to him, so we knew some kind
of conversation was going to happen. And he did walk out.

(13:01):
He came to the podium where all the media was
after because we knew he was going to talk after,
but he just read a statement he was He did
say that he had been trying to reach out to
DHS to have a conversation about these immigration actions that
are happening here. And he, you know, I'm sure you've
seen the quote or heard it, basically saying that if

(13:23):
this is how they treat a sitting senator, imagine how
they are treating some of the people who are being detained.
And we all tried to ask questions because obviously after
that you're going to want to hear from him and
what did you guys talk about, but he just wrapped
it up and just walked walked away, walked away, like

(13:45):
almost scurried away because he didn't want to answer any questions.
And yes, we all question. We all yelled questions, including
myself like was it appropriate to you? You know, like
everybody had the same question. And then why did you
talk about he ran away? He would I would say objectively,
he sort of ran away because he wasn't he probably

(14:06):
wasn't ready to talk about because he was visibly upset.
I thought at one point when he was talking about,
you know, the treatment of a senator and imagining how
he said farm workers and I forget the other one
that he listed, but as he was talking about how
they were being or how imagine how they're being cheated,

(14:26):
he was getting his voice was cracking. I think he
was very close to tears. So maybe he was just
processing all that had happened, and I wanted to go
back to one thing too. When he came out to
talk to us after the incident, he said that he
started out saying that, you know, he had a question,

(14:49):
and then he reminded us, telling us like, the First
Amendment allows us to protest, so when because he wanted
to come out and say that in the context of
a protest, I feel like this whole thing was a
form of protest for him, just because of the way
he described it in his own words, this whole incident.

(15:11):
So I don't know what to make of that, but
I just wanted to mention that very quickly.

Speaker 2 (15:16):
Joquan mom out of time with you.

Speaker 1 (15:18):
But do we know if the secretary plans to stay
in California for the duration or is she just in
and out for this press gathering?

Speaker 3 (15:26):
I'm not sure, you know. Right after that press gathering
she went down, there was a little lunch set up
for the National Guard. Spoke to them. I know she
came in last night, but her plans as far as
how long, I think they're probably keeping that under wraps too,
just for security purposes. But no, there was no word
on if she had other things planned for the next

(15:49):
couple weeks, especially with all the No King stuff happening
right this weekend.

Speaker 1 (15:53):
That's true, Jokwan, Spectrum News, thank you so much for
being available into such very short notice and being able
to give us your first hand account of what did
happen as you were in the room as it happened.

Speaker 3 (16:06):
No problem, Happy to do it anytime.

Speaker 2 (16:08):
Talk soon.

Speaker 1 (16:08):
KFI AM six forty we're live everywhere in the iHeartRadio
app

Speaker 4 (16:12):
You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
KFI AM six forty
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