Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

CNN’s Abby Phillip Disputes How Dangerous DC Is Even After Scott Jennings Details Murder He Witnessed

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Republican strategist Scott Jennings and “CNN NewsNight” host Abby Phillip clashed over crime in the District of Columbia Monday after Jennings recounted witnessing a murder in Union Station.

President Donald Trump announced the deployment of the National Guard to combat crime in D.C. Monday, days after Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer Edward Coristine, known by the moniker “Big Balls,” was severely injured by a group of “youths” when he intervened to prevent a carjacking. Jennings told Phillip that while Trump’s options to address crime in other cities were limited, Washington, D.C., was unique.

“There’s an obvious difference between D.C. and any other city in America. You know, a few months ago, I was in Union Station and saw a body hit the floor at the bottom of the escalator in Union Station because there was a murder right in front of me up on the second floor,” Jennings said. “I was going to get a tie, and I heard the shots and saw the body hit the floor.”

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“So, I’ve been listening all day long to people trying to make some argument that Washington, D.C., is a safe place,” Jennings continued. “It’s not a safe place. And we can argue about statistics and numbers. There’s a police commander right now on suspension because there’s some allegation that the statistics have been altered, but we can argue about that all day long. Nobody in their right mind who lives there or visits there on a regular basis would tell you that Washington, D.C., is safe, and everybody who goes there knows it.”

A high-ranking Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) official, Michael Pulliam, was suspended over allegations regarding the manipulation of crime data, NBC Washington reported.

Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, an intern for Republican Rep. Ron Estes of Kansas, was fatally shot on June 30. Two employees of the Israeli Embassy were killed in a May shooting, and Democratic Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota was assaulted in her apartment in February 2023.

“Hold on a minute. I don’t know that — I don’t know that anyone was saying that Washington, D.C., is a panacea of no crime,” Phillip said, with podcast host Ben Ferguson responding, “Have you been to CVS?”

“Hold on,” Phillip responded as Ferguson tried to make his point. “Hey, hold on a second. I lived in D.C. for a long time, okay? It’s not a panacea of no crime. But I think the point made by Tara, and we have the data, the most dangerous places in the United States, D.C. is not in the top ten list.”

Phillip eventually put up a graphic that listed what “U.S. News and World Report” deemed to be the ten most dangerous cities, with Washington, D.C., not on the list. The outlet said it used FBI crime data for determining how dangerous the cities were in the rankings when the Daily Caller News Foundation checked its website.

Despite claims from Democrats that violent crime has declined by roughly one-third, MPD data on such incidents reportedly excludes cases of aggravated assault and felony assault, even though D.C. laws characterize those offenses as violent.

After Seneca Project CEO Tara Setmayer tried to interject into the conversation, Phillip claimed that multiple places were more dangerous than the nation’s capital.

“Lots of places that are dangerous in this country, but Trump is clearly using D.C. to make a point about, you know, having the National Guard roving the National Mall where there are, last I checked, no crimes really being committed on the National Mall and that’s not where the crime is,” Phillip claimed. “I mean, if he sends the National Guard or, you know, FBI agents to southeast and southwest, that would be saying something, but they’re trying to show something.”

“Is there really going to be a resistance to have any kind of people on the street just looking at that?” Jennings responded. “The kid that worked at the White House, when he got jumped by the ten kids in the street gang, it was only because two cops saw it that he was able to escape.”