Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

Scott Jennings, New York Times Podcaster Come To Blows Over Border Patrol Investigation

[Screenshot/CNN]

CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings sparred with a podcaster with The New York Times on Tuesday over the investigation surrounding anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protester Alex Pretti’s death.

The Times podcaster, Lulu Garcia-Navarro, argued on “The Arena With Kasie Hunt” that the investigation cannot be trusted if state and local authorities are not involved in investigating the death of Pretti, who was shot by a Border Patrol agent on Saturday during a protest in Minneapolis. Jennings argued that the public cannot trust an investigation overseen by Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz or Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who immediately concluded that Pretti and Renee Good’s deaths were murders without an investigation being conducted.

“Well, shouldn’t it be something, as it has always been done, that is either joint, that it is local law enforcement, which, by the way, again, was not let onto the scene after he was killed,” Garcia-Navarro said. “You know, they absolutely refuse to allow the local police force, which are the ones who are supposed to, in any crime scene, sort of secure the location. They weren’t even allowed anywhere near it. So, how can anyone trust, at this point, that there is going to be an independent investigation that people can have faith in, if you do not involve the state and local authorities in that investigation?” 

“So, you don’t trust the federal government? You said how can anyone trust it,” Jennings said. “A Republican can say how can I trust an investigation run by Walz and Frey who, after every time something happens, rush to call it a murder, which they’ve already prejudged it.”

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Jennings further argued he would fully support a joint investigation between federal and local officials, and added that President Donald Trump has called for a full investigation into Pretti’s death.

Members of Trump’s administration, particularly Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, have faced scrutiny for accusing Pretti of engaging in domestic terrorism by violently resisting officers as they tried to retrieve his firearm. Police confirmed that Pretti had a gun permit and that his handgun was removed from his possession before the agent shot him.

Before boarding Marine One, Trump said he wants a “very honorable” and “honest investigation” into Pretti’s death.

“I want to see the investigation. I’m going to be watching over it, and I want a very honorable and honest investigation. I have to see it myself,” Trump said.

Trump met with Noem in the Oval Office for a two-hour long meeting on Monday and told reporters afterward on Tuesday that she was not stepping down. Following the upheaval, border czar Tom Homan traveled to Minnesota at Trump’s behest on Monday to address ICE operations and the Somali fraud scandal.

Democratic Illinois Rep. Robin Kelly introduced a resolution to impeach Noem, which has earned 120 co-sponsors. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries backed the potential impeachment proceedings, accusing Noem of allowing immigration officials to “brutalize communities” and “violently target” immigrant communities.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a Monday briefing that Trump still has the “utmost confidence” in Noem ahead of Homan’s visit. Noem wrote on X that Homan’s visit was “good news for peace, safety and accountability in Minneapolis.”