As anti-ICE rioters torched cars and clashed with police in Los Angeles on Saturday, CNN described the chaos as "lawful protests" with "some unrest." The comments came after the network cut away from its broadcast coverage of the violent protests to air George Clooney's journalism-themed Broadway play.

"So there’s unrest. Let’s start with, there’s protests, lawful protests, which is allowed in this country," said CNN senior national security analyst Juliette Kayyem, who is also a professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School. "There is some unrest, generally dealt with by local law enforcement and if there needs to be state support through state police, and sometimes even national guard under a governor’s authority."

Kayyem's comments came after CNN turned its focus away from Los Angeles and toward Manhattan's theater district, where it aired a "special" live broadcast of Good Night, and Good Luck, Clooney's Broadway adaptation of the 2005 film chronicling former CBS broadcaster Edward R. Murrow.

CNN ran a segment on Los Angeles around 6 p.m. eastern time before cutting to interviews with Clooney and the play's director, a Washington Free Beacon review found. A "pre-show" special then aired from 6:30 to 7 p.m. before the play aired uninterrupted from 7 to 9 p.m. CNN also aired a post-show panel hosted by Anderson Cooper, cutting away from it at one point to detail the clashes in California and break the network's roughly three-hour gap in coverage. Kayyem then joined for much of the 10 p.m. hour.

<figure id="attachment_2038663" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2038663" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-2038663" class="wp-caption-text">(Screenshot / CNN)</figcaption></figure>

 

<figure id="attachment_2038660" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2038660" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-2038660" class="wp-caption-text">(Screenshot / CNN)</figcaption></figure>

 

<figure id="attachment_2038657" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2038657" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-2038657" class="wp-caption-text">(Screenshot / CNN)</figcaption></figure>

The violence in Los Angeles unfolded as protesters attempted to impede ICE raids taking place in the city. They burned an American flag, vandalized cars, setting one on fire, and pelted rocks at law enforcement officials, injuring one. Dozens were arrested throughout the day for "imped[ing] agents in their ability to conduct law enforcement operations."

<figure id="attachment_2038681" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2038681" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-2038681" class="wp-caption-text">A protester stands on a burned car holding a Mexican flag. (Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>

 

<figure id="attachment_2038654" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2038654" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-2038654" class="wp-caption-text">A firework sent by protesters explodes near the Los Angeles Sheriff Department. (Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>

 

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