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Here's the Scoop
In Minnesota: Alex Pretti’s Death, a Journalist Caught in the Clash, and the Trump Playbook
00:23:30
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- [00:03]
A
Hey, everybody. Welcome to here's the scoop from NBC News. I'm Yasmin Bissugin. We want to get right to our top story, the ICE operations in Minneapolis. The president says he had a, quote, very good phone call with Minnesota Governor Tim Walls this morning. The news may signal a path towards easing tensions in the state after federal officers shot and killed a second person over the weekend. The victim was Alex Preddy, an intensive care nurse. But as with the shooting of Renee Goode earlier this month, there are competing narratives about the circumstances that led to his death. The Department of Homeland Security said Preddy was shot after violently resisting efforts to disarm him and that it appeared he wanted to, quote, massacre law enforcement. But at least five videos of the encounter verified and analyzed by NBC News contradict the administration's version of events. They show that he was helping someone who had been pushed to the ground and that a federal agent had removed what appeared to be Preddy's legal registered gun just before he was shot. I want to bring in someone who's been reporting on this non stop since Icelanded in Minnesota, Jenna Shortle, anchor of the nightly news show Breaking the news on Car 11, NBC's affiliate in the Twin Cities.
- [01:17]
B
Hey, Jenna, thanks for having me.
- [01:20]
A
It's great to have you. We have seen the pictures of Minnesotans going out into the deep freeze, marching, singing, praying. We have seen videos of them following ICE agents trying to warn their neighbors. Talk more about what you've been seeing, what has been happening on the ground there, and what has stood out to you the most.
- [01:40]
B
I think the first thing I want to say about that is I believe both as a journalist, because I've seen it with my own eyes and as a member of this wonderful community. I live on the south side of Minneapolis where a lot of this has been concentrated. There are far more people helping than hurting Minneapolis. If those listening can remember just five years ago was thrust into a global moment when George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer. That scenario is different. But the response I am now seeing mimicked in some ways in that people here know what they're doing and they know their rights to peacefully protest and they know what they are legally able to do. And once Operation Metro Surge, that is the federal government's name for what is happening to our cities right now in our state, started, those groups kind of got reactivated through neighborhood signal chats, through what we call bus moms and dads. I've seen that at co op grocery stores. I've seen it at restaurants. There are Two main corridors in the city, Lake street and Nicollet. Nicollet is where Alex was shot on Saturday. These are the veins of our immigrant communities. These are our urban cores. And those streets in particular are. Are covered with immigrant businesses and small businesses and locally owned businesses. You are not going to find a big box retailer, per se in those spaces. And those are the spaces where some of the worst things have happened, including the shooting of Alex.
- [03:20]
A
We've all seen the video of Alex. We've all seen the video of Renee. Just take me there for a moment, because I know that you were pepper sprayed as well.
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B
Yeah.
- [03:30]
A
Why were you pepper sprayed? What. What happened in that moment? How chaotic are things?
- [03:35]
B
You know, obviously, the focus should always stay on. On our community members that. That have died. But I want to just. If we want to talk about what happened to me, you can look at it both as the lens through what the press has the right to do. And I was wearing this badge that I wear, has my name, my face, my affiliation on it. I was standing behind police tape probably about 30 minutes after Alex was shot. I don't even know what's happening yet. My wife said to me as I just finished giving our son breakfast, something's happening at 26th and Nicollet. And so I put on my snow pants. It's very cold here. I put on all my gear and I went by myself and I told my workstation, I'm going to 26th and Nicollet. I did the exact same thing when Renee Goode was shot because it was right by where I live. So I'm at both of these scenes before most press, before police, before some ambulances. So I'm standing way behind this police tape that I believe federal agents have put up because I didn't see a lot of our police just yet. And neighbors are starting to come out and they're yelling. Observers are there yelling at the agents. Some of the agents are cool, calm, and collected. And there were two agents that, to me, seemed like they had their hands on their canisters. They were laughing like there's pain on one side of the tape and on the other side of the tape. It's just business as usual. I'm behind the tape, and just for those listening purposes, I'm about 5 foot 5 and 105 pounds. I'm not very big, and I don't have a crew with me. I'm just by myself with my phone, and I'm watching. I'm not saying anything, just documenting and then listening. And it was getting more and more tense. Within minutes of this, an agent starts walking towards the tape, towards us, but, like, walking through the tape and nobody knows what, like, what are you doing? What are you doing? You know, this is where we're filming. This is where we're talking. You said we could stay behind the line. Don't cross line. We don't know what's going on. And he's not responding. He's just like, move, move, move. And at some point, he pushes me with both hands, and I fall back. I'm not even filming at this point, and I still have my press badge on, and I get frustrated. I said, why are you pushing me? I didn't do anything. I'm behind the line, and he's yelling, back, back, back. And I'm like, back where? Where do you want me to go? What's happening? Then they push me again, and I said, stop pushing me. And the next thing I feel is really cold liquid underneath the left side of my glasses.
- [06:15]
C
Help me.
- [06:18]
B
And then I just fall. When I'm on the ground and it's so cold, I open one eye, and I can start to feel the burning. I've never been peppered sprayed before. But what was confusing to me was the pushing. And it wasn't spray. It was like a direct injection of liquid into my eye. There's immediate pain. And then a bunch of people come around me. Medics are at these scenes, citizen medics. And they start helping me and helping me, but it's so cold. They're dumping the water into my eyes, but it's freezing onto the body with the chemical on my person. So then my breath starts to get a little bit labored. And then they take me into an apartment complex. They helped me call my wife. They helped me take my clothes off, and they stayed with me. I think it was about 30 minutes until I could open my eye again. And by the time I got back down there, it was pure chaos.
- [07:17]
A
As we know, the differing dynamics of what the government is saying happened with Alex's shooting versus what has been verified by multiple videos, even reviewed by NBC News as well. We've also spoken with some policing experts who have said that the shooting appeared to be unjustified. And one said that it seems like the officers were poorly trained and inexperienced. What do we know about the ICE agents who fired at least 10 shots in the span of just five seconds?
- [07:51]
B
It's starting to feel like very much like what happened to Renee Goode, that those officers, we don't know their names, they left the scene. You saw, or maybe your Viewers heard about the state of Minnesota trying to aggressively get into the crime scene because immediately our bca, which for your listeners is the equivalent of the FBI at a state level, they investigate any officer involved shooting in the state of Minnesota. So it's not investigated by its own department. They were locked out of the scene immediately. No evidence gathering, no nothing. We don't know where things were taken. We don't know if things were moved. And that's what happened in the Renee Goods shooting, too.
- [08:30]
A
I know the governor sent out the Minnesota National Guard and it seems like they have been trying to bring down the temperature during these protests. It seems the president has now said that they're sending borders our Tom Homan to Minneapolis tonight. I believe also Walz and the president spoke about this. How are locals reacting to the potential arrival of Tom Homan and also the National Guard on the ground?
- [08:57]
B
Well, the fact that Governor Walz and President Trump spoke this morning is significant because that hasn't happened at every turn of cataclysmic events in our state. If you go back to June, we had the former speaker of the House assassinated with her husband at her home by a man dressed as a police officer. So after that happened, the president publicly said he wasn't going to call our governor because he felt he was a loser and it wasn't worth his time. So they don't speak then. Then there was a shooting at an elementary school, Catholic elementary school. They don't speak then. As this has gone on, there's been this effort to get the two to speak. And up until this morning, that is the first time. So that is a significant development. Per Trump's Truth social post that I read just before joining you, it sounded like it went well and that's a relief. I can't stress enough how on edge and in fear this city is. I can speak to it both as a parent, as a member of the community and as a journalist. This has to stop at some point. And I hope that that conversation, no matter people's politics, leads it to some sort of end of pressure point. So to your question about Tom Homan, frankly, I don't think anybody cares. We've already had Christy Noem, J.D. vance, all of these agents. So another one coming. Fine if you're coming to make it stop and not just accuse people here of being something other than what they are. The National Guard I know yesterday went to the Whipple Building, that is the federal building in the Twin Cities where people are taken by ice, if they're taken for any reason. Yesterday, the National Guard went to Whipple and met with protesters and gave them hot chocolate and coffee and donuts. Like, we come in peace. These are our Guard members. Like, there are neighbors and sons and daughters, and I think they're trying to come in. Like, we are here to help. We're not here to be a force that you need to be afraid of, but we have a job to do, too. And so I thought that it was a gesture, but it was one that seemed to have resonated.
- [11:17]
A
I see you getting emotional and talking about some of this stuff, especially in referencing just how scared people are there.
- [11:28]
B
Yeah, I mean, I'm not. Okay. This morning was the first time I was sent pictures from a photographer with the biggest paper in town who took pictures of what happened to me. It was comforting to see that what I thought happened did happen, but it was really scary to see. Not again. I don't want to center myself. What happened to me has happened to a lot of people. That's not my point. I was behind a line, and then, like, this chemical irritant was put into my eye. And I don't know why you don't have a lot of time to think. And I wonder, you know, I've seen the video of Renee shooting. Did she have time to think? Did Alex have time to think? What were they thinking? Because a lot of times it's like, I'm not doing anything all that different, and then it just goes sideways all of a sudden, and I am an American citizen and a member of the press behind the line. What are these people feeling that are in their house or driving their car? It's in the air we're breathing right now of like, our bodies are keeping the score and we don't know how this ends.
- [12:49]
A
Jenna Shortall. Thank you.
- [12:52]
B
You're welcome.
- [12:56]
A
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- [13:54]
A
And we are back with here's the scoop of NBC News. So the question now is what is the White House thinking when it comes to next steps in Minneapolis? I want to bring in NBC News senior White House correspondent Garrett Hake. Hey, Garrett.
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C
Howdy.
- [14:08]
A
I want to start with the change in operations because you have the president announcing on Truth Social that he is sending border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota tonight. Talk us through how he got to this decision.
- [14:21]
C
Well, we're still learning about this in real time, but I think it's pretty clear the White House was unhappy with the situation around this shooting on Saturday morning. And unhappier with the initial response. You had Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller coming out and saying that Alex Preddy was a domestic terrorist and suggesting that he had planned to massacre law enforcement. None of that supported by any evidence. This, the DHS initial statement suggested the same thing all on Saturday. Then by Sunday, you had people like the deputy attorney general Todd Blanch out being much more measured, saying that this was gonna be investigated, sort of backing off some of those statements. Sunday night we heard from the president the first time he gave a brief phone interview with the Wall Street Journal, did not go out of his way to defend the conduct of these officers, suggested there would be an investigation. And now on Monday, we hear the president saying he'd send Tom Homan to Minnesota. Then just before noon said he had spoken to Tim Wa about sending Tom Homan to Minnesota and that he had welcomed that decision. The addition of Homan into this, he's the border czar. He's kind of a floating anti immigration figure. But he is, I think, widely viewed within the administration as a professional and someone who is more careful in how he conducts the operations that he's in charge of. So bringing in Homan, I think was a step that was seen clearly by the White House as an effort to look like they are taking a more proactive step here, look like they're trying to professionalize the scene on the ground in Minnesota and at least in the president's telling that this is something that was welcomed by the governor of Minnesota as something that may bring down the temperature on its own or maybe kind of a cue to federal officials and maybe hopefully to people in Minnesota that The temperature will come down. We'll see.
- [16:10]
A
Is this at all a sign that the president could be losing faith in Kristi Noem? What is the feeling inside the White House as to these ongoing federal immigration operations in Minneapolis?
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C
Immigration is at the heart of this presidency. It's the singular issue that the president believes in the most. And so I think he is by nature inclined to defend and support the people who are doing that work on his behalf.
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B
That.
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C
That said, the president has indicated it many times, and I think we just sort of know this about the way that he consumes media and the way he thinks about the job, that he's a little bit more sensitive to the pictures and the images and the stories of how this enforcement is being conducted in the interior of the country than perhaps are some of the people doing that enforcement work. And he and his advisors at the White House, who are looking ahead to the midterms, don't want to see something that has always been a political strength for him become an albatross around his and the Republicans Republican Party's neck going into 2026. So all those things sort of accrue to Kristi Noem's favor. The president likes the dramatic elements of the way that she's been out doing her job. You know, she's always out there in a vest and looking like she's on the front lines. And he doesn't want to look like he's bowing to pressure from the left or from the media or from anyone to sort of punish someone. I don't think he's going to fire Kristi Noem. I don't think he's lost confidence in Kristi Noem. The White House says he has not lost confidence in Kristi Noem. But look, this is a brutal stretch for her. She's gotta deal with the situation on the ground in Minnesota. Yes, but she's also in charge of fema. She's also in charge of storm response and disaster response. We got a snowstorm that's paralyzing like a third of the country here. So let's revisit that question in a week or 10 days, because she's got a lot on her plate right now that has to be handled very delicately. And that's not necessarily something she's shown a lot of talent for.
- [18:04]
A
The president gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal and said, essentially, and I'm paraphrasing here, that ICE isn't gonna stay there forever. Is that any indication? We know that the governor wants ICE out of the state of Minnesota. Is there any indication that the president could pull out with all that has been happening?
- [18:20]
C
I think that's a possibility. These were, we believe, Border Patrol agents who did the shooting here in this instance in Minneapolis, not ICE agents. The deployment of Border Patrol in interior cities around the country has been a relatively new development in this and the kind of thing that there are people on the left and right who think has added to the heat in these situations. So it's possible you could see a redeployment or a reissue of how these federal forces are deployed. You could see Border Patrol come out. You'd see more ICE come in. You could see Tom Homan change the tactics once he's on the ground there starting tonight. There have also been some voices on the far right, and I've seen this on X and other places, suggesting, okay, Minnesota, if you don't think you have an immigration problem, we'll pull out entirely. We'll send immigrants from the rest of the country to Minnesota like you saw Texas do with various blue cities.
- [19:10]
A
Yeah.
- [19:11]
C
During the Biden administration. And we'll let you deal with your immigration problems if you don't think it's an issue. All of those things are possible. I don't see the feds pulling out entirely. In part because if you look at every statement the president's made over the last couple days, he continues to talk about this idea of policing fraud in Minneapolis and Minnesota. He's very hung up on the idea of that there's fraud going on there. I think he's gonna wanna keep some presence on the ground. But the likelihood that that presence could shift or shrink, I think is reasonably high. I think we've talked about this before. One of this president's political superpowers is his ability to declare victory at any time, regardless of the facts, regardless of anything has changed. I could see him making some statement here about, look at all the people we've arrested in Minnesota. We've had this amazing victory here. And now, after consultations with the governor and the great Tom Homan, we're going to move on to another city. We won. None of that would surprise me.
- [20:05]
A
One last tentacle, which is what could feasibly happen in Congress and the potential of a government shutdown. Senate Democrats essentially threatening to pull DHS funding and to then lead to a potential government shutdown. How real is this threat?
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C
I think it's significant. I mean, look, it would also, to be clear, it would only be a partial government shutdown because some elements of the government have already been funded. And what you have right now is, I think it's the last six of these appropriations bills all bundled together. The House passed them as a bundle. They sent them to the Senate. What Senate Democrats want now is to pass five out of the six, strip those out, and vote separately on the one that includes funding for DHS and try to hold that up as a way to negotiate for some kind of changes in policy or funding. Part of the challenge here that I think Democrats have is to figure out exactly what they want to ask for, because first they've got to convince Republicans to strip this out and break up the bundle. Then they've got to decide what specifically they want to fight for and to sell the American people on it in a very short period of time. Shutdown politics are always complicated. And, Yasmin, I'll add one other thought to that. In this moment, we're seeing a little bit of criticism or concern, tepid as it might be, from congressional Republicans about the manner in which these DHS agents, be they Customs and Border Protection, or ice, have conducted themselves in these cities. If Democrats threaten to defund those agencies or shut the government down over this, you could see a lot of those Republicans who are kind of on the fence go right back into their political corner the minute it becomes a red versus blue, do we shut the government down over this or not? So I think that's another dynamic that I'm watching out for this week.
- [21:41]
A
Garrett Hake, thank you.
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C
You bet.
- [21:46]
A
After our conversation with Garrett, the Department of Homeland Security said it's reviewing body camera footage from the immigration agents involved in the fatal shooting of Alex Bradley. DHS Deputy Spokesperson Trisha McLaughlin said investigators have video recorded by cameras worn by multiple agents. All right, we're going to take a very quick break. And when we are back, is the United States still considering an attack on Iran? Stay with us for the headlines.
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