Here's the Scoop

The U.S. has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, a move President Donald Trump is calling “the largest one ever seized.” The White House says the ship is a “sanctioned shadow” vessel tied to the Iranian military and that the administration plans to take possession of the oil on board. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the tanker is moving through a federal forfeiture process, which includes interviewing the crew and collecting evidence. NBC News senior national security correspondent Courtney Kube joins host Yasmin Vossoughian to break it down. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence is everywhere, and Disney is jumping in. Time has named the “Architects of AI” its 2025 Person of the Year, and Disney just struck a deal with OpenAI to bring its beloved characters into the Sora social video app, alongside a billion-dollar investment to supercharge the technology. NBC News reporter Jared Perlo joins the pod. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Up first: The Federal Reserve is closing out 2025 with a quarter-point rate cut — its third this year. And investors were glued to this one. Policymakers headed into today’s meeting unusually divided: focus on a softening job market, or keep the inflation pressure? Adding to the drama, the Fed has been operating in a partial data blackout due to the lingering fallout from the federal shutdown. NBC News managing editor for business and the economy Mike Calia joins host Yasmin Vossoughian to break down what today’s move signals for the economy heading into 2026. And foreign visitors to the U.S. may soon have to share five years of social media history under a new Trump administration proposal. Customs and Border Protection wants all international travelers, even visa-exempt ones, to submit their accounts before entering the country. NBC News’ senior homeland security correspondent Julia Ainsley joins the pod to discuss what’s driving the move and the privacy concerns piling up. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Up first, the Trump economy. President Trump is back on the road today, heading to Pennsylvania for what the White House is calling a “campaign-style economic event.” He’s expected to tout his record, sell his vision and make the case that his policies are fueling a stronger economy. NBC News senior White House correspondent Garrett Haake, who is traveling with the president, joins host Yasmin Vossoughian to break it down. And in an NBC News exclusive, a yearlong investigation into one of the world’s largest Pentecostal denominations uncovered allegations of sexual abuse inside the Assemblies of God. Reporters focused on its signature youth program, the Royal Rangers, which is a Boy Scouts–style rite of passage built around camping trips, outdoor skills and Scripture. Dozens of former program leaders have been accused of abusing boys in their care, and, despite mounting claims, church leadership has resisted reforms that survivors say are urgently needed. Mike Hixenbaugh, senior investigative reporter on the NBC News Enterprise team, joins the pod. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It’s a significant test of presidential power at the Supreme Court. Today, the justices are weighing whether President Donald Trump can fire a member of the Federal Trade Commission, an agency Congress intentionally shielded from political influence to protect its consumer-protection and antitrust mission. The case comes as Trump’s administration moves to dramatically reshape the federal workforce, slashing agencies and removing thousands of career employees. Now, the court must decide just how far presidential authority can reach. NBC News senior legal correspondent Laura Jarrett joins host Yasmin Vossoughian to explain. And Paramount Skydance just launched a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, dropping a stunning $108 billion offer for the entire company. It’s a move that could reshape Hollywood overnight and ignite a new era of media mega-mergers. So, what exactly is going on here? And why now? NBC News senior reporter Daniel Arkin joins the pod to break it all down. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It’s a Hollywood shake-up for the ages. Netflix’s merger with Warner Bros. Discovery is officially a go. The streamer is spending $82.7 billion to acquire Warner Bros.’ massive movie, TV and streaming portfolio, one of the largest entertainment mergers in modern history. The deal pairs Netflix’s disruptor DNA with a 102-year-old Hollywood heavyweight, blazing a trail for how a streaming pioneer blends with a legacy studio. Mike Calia, the managing editor for business and the economy at NBC News, joins host Yasmin Vossoughian to break down what this blockbuster deal means for the future of entertainment. Plus: It’s the day soccer fans have been waiting for nearly four years. It’s the FIFA World Cup draw. It’s the largest tournament in competition history, with 48 teams now competing to hoist that golden trophy. Where did your country place? What are the potential upsets? Is there a ‘Group of Death’? Oh, and what is the draw anyway? The host of the Men in Blazers podcast, Roger Bennett, joins the podcast. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Federal immigration officers are conducting raids across Minnesota’s Twin Cities, home to one of the nation’s largest Somali communities, just days after President Trump verbally attacked immigrants from the country in eastern Africa. The administration has said the ICE raids aren’t targeting Somalis, but community members tell NBC News it sure feels that way. NBC News senior homeland security correspondent Julia Ainsley joins host Yasmin Vossoughian to break down what’s happening on the ground. Plus, in an exclusive interview, Vice President JD Vance discussed with NBC News senior national politics reporter Henry Gomez his frustration with the stalled peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, the speculation about his family life and his political future. Henry joins the pod to tell us what he learned. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A potential warning sign for Republicans in Tennessee. Matt Van Epps, the party's nominee, won the special election in the 7th District and thanked President Trump for a boost. Both parties poured money into the race, but Van Epps' single-digit margin of victory is a far cry from Trump’s 22-point win there in 2024. So, what does the result signal nationally? Chief Data Analyst Steve Kornacki joins host Ryan Nobles to break it down. Plus, San Francisco is taking on big food, in a first-of-its-kind lawsuit. The city is suing 10 of the country’s biggest ultraprocessed food makers, accusing them of knowingly selling products designed to be addictive and harmful to Americans’ health. The defendants include household names like Kraft Heinz, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Nestlé USA. NBC News Legal Analyst Danny Cevallos joins us to break down the case, what’s at stake and why legal experts are watching this one closely. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

President Trump met with his Cabinet this morning as questions continue to intensify over a U.S. strike on a shipping boat allegedly carrying drugs in the Caribbean. The White House now confirms that in a September anti-smuggling operation, the military launched a second strike that killed survivors of the first attack, a move some lawmakers and legal experts say could be a war crime. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said the operation was legal and Adm. Frank M. Bradley acted within his authority. NBC News senior national security correspondent Courtney Kube joins host Anne Thompson to break it all down. And amid ongoing bloodshed in Ukraine and fragile cease-fire negotiations, Russian President Vladimir Putin is meeting today in Moscow with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Witkoff is expected to brief Putin on the newly updated peace plan hammered out in recent days by U.S. and Ukrainian and European negotiators. As these high-stakes talks unfold, we’re checking in with our team on the ground: NBC News chief international correspondent Keir Simmons is in Moscow, and chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel is in Ukraine. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As a bonus for Here's The Scoop fans, we’re sharing the trailer for Something About Cari, an all-new original podcast series from Dateline and Keith Morrison. In this podcast Keith Morrison takes us to America’s heartland, where single mom Cari Farver disappears just weeks into a new romance. What follows is a series of strange and terrifying events, including taunting texts and threatening emails to Cari's boyfriend and his ex that escalate to stalking, arson and murder. But nothing could prepare friends, family, and investigators for the mind-bending twist that would come next… If you like what you hear, just search Something About Cari to listen to the first two episodes now, completely free. Or subscribe to Dateline Premium on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or DatelinePremium.com. Subscribers get early access to new episodes and can listen to all Dateline podcasts ad-free. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Luigi Mangione is back in court today for a pivotal pretrial hearing in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The 27-year-old has pleaded not guilty to nine state counts and four federal charges, the latter carrying the possibility of the death penalty. His defense team is now fighting to exclude key evidence, a process that could take more than a week. NBC News legal analyst Misty Marris joins host Laura Jarrett to break down what this means for the case. Adobe Analytics is predicting Americans will drop a record-breaking $14 billion on Cyber Monday deals today but, where there are shoppers, there are scammers. Not even our host was immune, getting caught up in a gift card scam herself. NBC News chief consumer investigative reporter Vicky Nguyen is here to break down what went wrong, what’s being done to stop it, and the red flags you need to watch for while you shop this holiday season. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

President Trump’s base may agree on illegal immigration, but legal immigration is tearing open new fault lines — and at the center are H-1B visas. Months after cracking down with costly new restrictions, the president now appears to be reversing course, jolting his party and escalating his feud with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican who announced this week that she’ll resign her seat in 2026. NBC News senior politics reporter Jon Allen joins host Yasmin Vossoughian to break down the policy whiplash and the GOP split that's fueling it. Plus, after box office sales fell to a historic low last month, Hollywood film studios are hoping moviegoers turn out this Thanksgiving weekend. NBC News Entertainment Correspondent Chloe Melas joins the show to give a look into the movie business and preview some of the upcoming films that could save the industry this year.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We’re starting with a political firestorm at the Pentagon. Defense officials have launched a misconduct investigation into Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly over a video he and other former service members recorded, urging people in the military and intelligence community not to carry out illegal orders from the Trump administration. Kelly, a retired Navy pilot, appears alongside several Democrats with national security backgrounds, and the question now is whether their message crossed an ethical line. NBC News senior national security correspondent Courtney Kube joins host Yasmin Vossoghian. And President Donald Trump has launched the “Genesis Mission,” a new executive order meant to turbocharge America’s artificial intelligence capabilities. The plan ramps up federal computing power, opens access to massive government data sets and pushes AI research toward real-world deployment. NBC News reporter and writer Jared Perlo joins the pod to break down what’s in it and what it means for the U.S. tech race. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A federal judge has thrown out the criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, a sweeping setback for what critics have described as an effort by the Trump administration to use the justice system for political payback. Legal affairs reporter Gary Grumbach joins host Yasmin Vossoughian to break down one of the sharpest judicial rebukes yet of the administration’s prosecution strategy. And President Trump’s self-imposed Ukraine peace deadline is fast approaching, as U.S. and Ukrainian officials say they’re making headway in Geneva, despite Russia’s continued absence. NBC News’ chief foreign affairs correspondent Richard Engel is on the ground in Switzerland, tracking the negotiations. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is heading to Washington, D.C., on Friday for a face-to-face with President Donald Trump, an unlikely matchup after months of trading insults. NBC News reporter Allan Smith joins host Yasmin Vossoughian to break down what’s at stake and whether this meeting is about policy or pure political theater. And we’re digging into the latest wellness whisper: microdosing GLP-1s. You’ve heard celebrities like Andy Cohen and Rebel Wilson talk about it. Now, everyday users are trying tiny doses of drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy for “appetite tuning” and weight control. Telehealth companies like Noom and Ro are helping fuel the trend by making access easy. NBC News correspondent Anne Thompson joins the pod after speaking with someone who’s doing it. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We’re breaking down the September jobs report: The U.S. added 119,000 jobs, stronger than expected and a sign the economy was still hiring steadily before the government shutdown. But a closer look from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows a more uneven picture, with a labor market starting to wobble amid high-profile layoffs at major companies. Wall Street? Pure chaos. Stocks surged, plunged and snapped back as investors tried to make sense of it all. Host Yasmin Vossoughian is joined by Caleb Silver, the editor in chief at Investopedia and the chief business editor at People Inc. Our new NBC News–Bloomberg Law documentary is out, exposing what happens when women give birth behind bars. We spoke with mothers who delivered alone on jail cell floors, screamed for help that never came and, in one case, delivered a stillborn baby into a toilet. Others didn’t survive their pregnancies at all. These stories reveal a devastating reality inside U.S. jails and prisons, where basic care and dignity are often denied. Yasmin is joined by NBC News staff writer Jon Schuppe, her reporting partner, to break down what they uncovered. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Trump administration is quietly moving to carve up the U.S. Education Department, shifting key responsibilities to agencies like Labor and State in a renewed push toward its long-standing goal of dismantling the department altogether. It’s a striki ng look at how far the administration is willing to go to bypass Congress to make it happen. Host Yasmin Vossoughian is joined by Erica Meltzer, national editor at Chalkbeat, to unpack what this maneuver means for students, schools and federal oversight. Meanwhile, Iran is staring down its worst water crisis in decades, and the warning signs are plastered across Tehran. New government posters read: “There is a water shortage! It’s fall and there is still no rain.” With reservoirs drying up and no relief in the forecast, officials are raising the unthinkable possibility of evacuating the capital city of 10 million people. NBC News producer Amin Khodadadi joins us from Tehran to break down how the crisis got this bad and what happens next. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The House votes on a bill that would force the Justice Department to release all its records on Jeffrey Epstein. It’s expected to pass, a major win for the bipartisan group pushing for transparency. So, what would this bill require? And what could surface in any new document dumps? NBC News National Law Enforcement & Intelligence Correspondent Tom Winter joins host Yasmin Vossoughian to discuss his reporting. And President Donald Trump hosts Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House. A striking reset after a CIA assessment tied the crown prince to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The U.S.-Saudi relationship appears to be warming under Trump, with LIV Golf ties, reported Trump Organization real estate talks and the sale of F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia, despite the Pentagon’s warning that China could gain access to the tech, all as the White House looks to Riyadh for help shaping Gaza’s reconstruction. White House correspondent Monica Alba joins the pod. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

President Trump is now calling for the full release of the long-sealed Jeffrey Epstein documents, saying, “We have nothing to hide,” and urging Congress to make the files public. It’s a sharp reversal from years of efforts to keep parts of the record under wraps. So, why now? NBC News Now’s Hallie Jackson joins host Laura Jarrett to break it all down. And we’re in Charlotte, North Carolina, where federal immigration raids ramped up over the weekend. Border Patrol agents began making arrests across the city, with the Department of Homeland Security saying the operation is meant to “ensure Americans are safe and public safety threats are removed.” But tense videos of agents clashing with residents are sparking fear in immigrant communities. Some local business owners say they plan to close their doors to protect their neighbors. We’ll get into what’s behind this ramp-up and what it means for families on the ground with NBC News correspondent Ryan Chandler. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Some big news out of Wall Street this morning: Longtime Walmart CEO Doug McMillon is stepping down. The 59-year-old has led the company since 2014, overseeing its transformation from a budget big-box chain into a true e-commerce powerhouse and helping drive Walmart’s stock up roughly 300% along the way. It’s a major shake-up at the nation’s largest private employer. Host Yasmin Vossoughian brings in NBC News senior business correspondent Christine Romans to break down why McMillon is leaving now, what it means for the retail giant and how the markets are reacting. And six months into his historic papacy, Pope Leo XIV is turning to Hollywood, inviting Spike Lee, Cate Blanchett, Judd Apatow and others to the Vatican this weekend. The church says he wants to “deepen dialogue with the World of Cinema” and tap into the power of storytelling to advance human values. NBC News correspondent Anne Thompson joins the pod to explain. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today on the pod, we’re heading to Europe, where NATO countries are reporting a spike in mysterious drone sightings over airports and other sensitive sites. It’s a trend that has only accelerated since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Now, European leaders are pushing for a coordinated “drone wall,” a new defensive shield designed to protect their airspace and critical infrastructure. We break down what’s driving the surge, what this wall would look like, and why it matters right now. NBC News foreign correspondent Raf Sanchez, who visited a factory that makes defensive drones, joins host Yasmin Vossoughian. And new data shows just how hard it’s gotten to break into the housing market. The median age of a first-time homebuyer has reached a record high of 40 years old, according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors. President Donald Trump’s latest idea to tackle affordability? A 50-year mortgage. Supporters say it could shrink monthly payments, while critics argue it would create new problems. NBC News business and data correspondent Brian Cheung talks numbers. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.