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Here's the Scoop
Hamas agrees to release all Israeli hostages, pending conditions; Day 3 of deal-or-no-deal talks in Congress
00:21:43
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- [00:00]
Morgan Chesky
There's a reason Chevy trucks are known for their dependability. It's because they show up no matter the weather, push forward no matter the terrain, and deliver. That's why Chevrolet has earned more dependability awards for trucks than any other brand in 2025, according to J.D. power. Because in every Chevy truck, like every Chevy driver, dependability comes standard. Visit Chevy.com to learn more. Chevrolet received the highest total number of awards among all trucks in the J.D. power 2025 U.S. vehicle Dependability Study Awards based on 2022 models. Newer models may be shown. Visit J.D. power.com awards for more details. Chevrolet Together the guy thought he had a good thing going, a good job, and two lovers. That is, until this triangle got complicated and somebody had to go. I'm Josh Mankiewicz and this is Deadly Engagement, an all new podcast from dateline. It's a story that's sure to keep you guessing as lovers turn on each other in a desperate bid to avoid prison. All episodes are available now. To listen ad free, subscribe to DATELINE Premium on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Dateline premium.com hey, everybody, and welcome to here's the scoop from NBC News. I'm Morgan Chesky and I am happy to report it is, in fact Friday. Today on the show, we'll be going inside the White House for how the president's handling the ongoing government shutdown. And we'll be talking about a woman making history in the uk how she could very well be the person to crown the next king. But first, we do have some breaking news. It appears as of this moment, Hamas has agreed to release all Israeli hostages dead or alive. Here to break down what else Hamas said in this late breaking statement is our foreign correspondent Matt Bradley joining us from Israel. Matt, thanks for being here.
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Matt Bradley
Thanks for having me.
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Morgan Chesky
And Matt, what more can you tell us about this response that Hamas just put out in this pretty stunning statement?
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Matt Bradley
Well, like everybody else, I'm scrambling to kind of parse this out and read through it, but one of the big things is that the Hamas movement announces its agreement to release all Israeli prisoners, both living and dead, according to the exchange formula contained President Trump's proposal. So that is a statement that says that they are essentially agreeing to President Trump's 20 point plan and that they're agreeing to release all of the 20 living hostages and nearly twice as many dead hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip.
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Morgan Chesky
So Hamas agrees to the deal to release hostages dead or alive. But there is a caveat, and that is they said, quote, provided the field conditions for the exchange are met. What do we know on that end?
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Matt Bradley
Now this is something that when I spoke with a man who is close to the negotiators, close to Palestinians who are in the room, close to the Qataris, he said that one of the main weaknesses of this deal, this 20 point plan offered by President Trump, is that it essentially, essentially offers no checks and balances. It does not give the Palestinians any recourse in that 20 point plan to say we're not going to keep abiding by this deal. We're not agreeing with how the Israelis are doing things. We don't think the other party is negotiating or acting in good faith. There is no independent arbitrator in this deal. And that's one of the reasons why, when we look at this, and I'm looking at it right now, they're talking about entering into negotiations over several points and it's not necessarily just accepting this in a full throated way.
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Morgan Chesky
So, Matt, I know that this week President Trump lays out this 20 point plan for peace alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They give Hamas this deadline Sunday, 6pm Eastern, and here we are Friday. What reporting do we have so far on why they responded?
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Matt Bradley
Now we have to remember the context inside the Gaza Strip and the people that I've been speaking to in Gaza who are negotiating for the Palestinians everywhere, their response is what more could possibly be done to the Gaza Strip. What would that even look like? There is no escalating a situation that is already at its highest point. I think that this was more likely just a response to the situation that they saw in the rest of the world. And it was something that President Trump said that if Hamas doesn't accept this deal, it will be completely alone. And I think that was the main calculation.
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Morgan Chesky
So as stunning as the statement is from Hamas, what is left to negotiate here? Matt?
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Matt Bradley
Well, I mean, it sounds as though my first reading on this is just about everything except for the things that they mentioned specifically. They said the movement announces its agreement to release all Israeli prisoners, both living and dead. Big deal, provided the field conditions for the exchange are met. We don't know exactly what that means. We do know that Hamas has definitely agreed forthrightly to release all of the remaining hostages. They've also agreed to things that of course are going to be beneficial to them. The exchange of the prisoners by which they're referring, the release of these Palestinians who are held in Israeli jails, the immediate entry aid. Of course, this is something that they're going to want to see. The Rejection of the occupation of the Gaza Strip and the displacement of our Palestinian people from it. These are things that they are calling for, they say. So it is with this spirit that they are entering into these negotiations. It's unclear whether we're really seeing a resolute end to the fighting even with this offer to release all those remaining hostages, or they call them prisoners, or whether we're seeing an opening to negotiations that could possibly fail.
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Morgan Chesky
If you are a friend or a family member of one of these Israeli hostages, dead or alive, and you hear this as promising as it is, I have to assume the expectation is kept neutral until that delivery actually takes place.
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Matt Bradley
I think a lot of people that are looking at this, especially as you're mentioning the friends and families of these hostages, the people who have been leading these protests in the streets of Tel Aviv for so long, these are people who are going to be looking over this texts are the same way. We are trying to determine exactly what this means. I think that they're probably going to, as they have so many times over the past two years, temper their expectations and their optimism and try to say we're not going to get excited yet. Because this looks as though while we are hearing the acceptance of this notion that they're going to be releasing these hostages, it's unclear exactly what the terms are going to be.
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Morgan Chesky
Among the big questions that still hang over all of this, Matt, if Hamas is earnest in this statement, they hand over the hostages dead or alive. They're also refusing to continue to control Gaza. What would this entity authority look like that would oversee it going forward?
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Matt Bradley
So this would be the movement, as they said, the movement also renews its agreement to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independ that would be Palestinians. And this is part of the Trump plan as well. But again, it doesn't address the notion that there would be this, as President Trump laid out, this sort of board of trustees or sort of a board of governors of independent people, including President Trump himself, who would be leading it, whether or not Hamas would see that as a governing body, you know, as President Trump's 20 point plan laid out, there would be an international body that would be running all of this, that would be leading all of it, and it would be run by President Trump himself.
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Morgan Chesky
And we appreciate you keeping us posted. Thanks, Matt.
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Matt Bradley
Thank you.
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Morgan Chesky
And a quick note here. While we have yet to hear from Israel in an official capacity in response to this Hamas statement we are hearing from the Trump administration, a senior official is telling NBC news that while it does appear positive, they're still going through it in hopes of learning more details. For more on this late breaking story, you can head to nbcnews.com meanwhile, back here at home, a judge in a Manhattan courtroom just sentenced former music mogul Sean Diddy Combs to four years and two months in prison. Now, you'll remember back in July, Combs was found guilty by a jury of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, but was then acquitted of the more serious charges brought against him, sex trafficking and racketeering, which could have led to life in prison. Before his sentencing today, Combs sobbed. He addressed the court saying, quote, I hate myself right now. I have been stripped down to nothing. I am truly sorry for it all, no matter what they say. He went on to say, quote, I will never put my hands on another person again. I have learned my lesson. All right, when we're back, we'll be checking in on the ongoing government shutdown, this time from inside the West Wing. But before we break, a quick request. As one of our listeners, your feedback really, truly matters. We'd like to hear what you like, don't like and everything in between. So if you can go to nbcnews.com survey, share your thoughts. It only takes a few minutes. Again, that's nbcnews.com survey. Your input will help us keep making. Here's the scoop. Even better.
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Monica Alba
Who's ready for some football?
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Morgan Chesky
All season, the TODAY show takes you inside the game.
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Monica Alba
We're gonna get this party started.
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Morgan Chesky
Join us every week as we go behind the scenes with your favorite NFL teams for the biggest stories on and off the field. Big game tonight. Plus game day recipes that dial up your tailgate.
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Monica Alba
Football food, soup to nuts.
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Morgan Chesky
From stadium lights to game day bites, the TODAY show is your home for all things football every morning on NBC. Hey, guys, Willie Geist here reminding you to check out the Sunday Sit down podcast. On this week's episode, I get together with Tony and Grammy winner and Academy Award nominee Leslie Odom Jr. As he returns to the role that made him famous as Aaron Burr. And in Hamilton, 10 years after the original run, you can get our conversation now for free wherever you download your podcasts. In Texas, the countdown has begun. Robert Roberson is scheduled to die when the clock hits zero. It's over. But a growing chorus insists Robert is innocent. We didn't hear Robert. We chose to disbelieve him. And if the system gets it wrong, there's no going back. I'm Lester Holt, and this is the last appeal my new podcast from dateline. Follow now. And welcome back to here's the scoop from NBC News. It is day three of the government shutdown and hate to break it to you, but there is seemingly no resolution in sight. The Senate was back in session today but failed to pass spending bills from either the Democrats or Republicans for the fourth time. Then they packed up and left for the weekend, meaning this shutdown is extended until at least Monday. Now as the days tick by, the Trump administration is ramping up pressure to get this deal done by pausing billions of dollars in funding for key infrastructure projects in New York and Chicago, squeezing these Democratic run cities. The president in fact, still threatening major layoffs in the federal government as soon as today. And the White House press secretary said it's likely going to be in the thousands. I want to turn now to NBC News White House correspondent Monica Alba for some key perspective from the West Wing. Monica, thanks for being here.
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Monica Alba
Happy to be here.
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Morgan Chesky
How would you break down the mood at the White House today as this government shutdown continues?
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Monica Alba
This White House is totally dug in, Morgan. They feel really confident about their positioning here. They feel as if they are winning the messaging battle here politically. They came out on day one of this shutdown and have been pretty firm in trying to really place the blame on Democrats. You've seen that everywhere from the White House briefing room where they are playing videos on loop with the Democrats own words talking about trying to avoid a shutdown. Federal agencies that typically remain pretty nonpartisan, partisan in their language about shutdowns that are actually inserting this far more partisan language in out of office replies in banners. Now the thing that's a little bit unusual is we haven't seen the president himself in any kind of public event since the shutdown started, taking questions or anything like that. Though we know what his feelings are on this, which is also to continue to blame the Democrats and to try to make this as painful as possible for the Democrats. That's the number one priority. The White House has been trying to capitalize right now of all the people.
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Morgan Chesky
And all the players that have an active role in this ongoing government shutdown. Monica, I want to talk about one of them in particular. So you have this man, Russ Vogt, who prior to being the director of the Office of Budget Management held a pretty controversial position.
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Monica Alba
He was the architect, Morgan, of Project 2025, which was that blueprint for President Trump' second term when he was campaigning. And remember that just months before the election, the president at the time, candidate Donald Trump, he tried to distance himself from Project 2025 pretty intensely, even though he certainly was familiar with and very close to the ideas and the people who contributed to this document and plan. And then he put him right into government. Yes, to lead the omb. And Russ Vogt is the person who is making decisions, we're told, about some of the programs and policies that are affected right now. And that could continue to see massive changes. For instance, there could be these mass firings. And that is what the OMB wrote a week ago in a memo warning about if there was a shutdown. But we are also already seeing Rust Vote announce all of this money for certain infrastructure projects in states that are led by Democrats being completely halted. We're seeing that in New York. We're seeing that in Illinois and Chicago in particular. And that is a pretty significant move here, too. That certainly is meant to maybe apply some public pressure, but that's also raising a lot of eyebrows as appearing to be pretty punitive at this point.
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Morgan Chesky
Monica, Typically when these government shutdowns happen, it's because the two sides can't agree on a sticking point or two as it relates to to the budget. If I'm hearing you correctly, the Trump administration sounds like they're trying to take advantage of this moment in an entirely different way.
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Monica Alba
And that is what Democrats have been trying to really point to, that they are arguing. And some of these federal workers who have spoken out say they feel like pawns in this situation. That's the words that they have been using to describe this, because they ask if this is something that the White House and the Trump administration wanted to do, why couldn't they just do it normally? Why did they wait for a shutdown? Or why are they using the shutdown as a reason? And a lot of people may also think this is similar to what Doge was trying to do at the beginning of the year, at the beginning of this administration in terms of trying to shrink the federal workforce. Of course, back then that was headed by Elon Musk, who has since left the government in that role. Democrats are saying that that is highly unusual and inappropriate.
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Morgan Chesky
A complex process. Simple question here, Monica. Do we have any idea on when this comes to an end?
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Monica Alba
We don't. And that is why both sides, I think, continue to be so dug in on their own perspectives here, because they are waiting for the other side to potentially cave first. This is expected to continue over the next couple of days. Of course, the longest shutdown we've seen recently was in the first Trump administration. That was 35 days. Is it Possible this one could go that long.
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Morgan Chesky
Maybe, maybe. While we've got you, Trump administration is also dealing with some crises overseas, specifically with Venezuela. We knew the administration sent out this confidential notice to Congress this week that the President has, quote, determined that the US Is in a armed conflict with drug cartels and that members of those organizations can be targeted as quote, unquote, unlawful combatants. Which begs the question, are, are we now officially in conflict with Venezuela?
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Monica Alba
Well, it appears that is what this administration is telling Congress, which it's supposed to do in order to basically get the same designation for these drug cartels as terrorist groups like Al Qaeda or the Islamic State, for instance. That is what this does. And this comes of course, on the heels of the US Taking out some boats from Venezuela, allegedly that were carrying narco traffickers and drugs, according to the president, that he says threaten Americans. But this notice to Congress is sort of a formal channel for being able to say that this attack on the boats was lawful and lay the groundwork for potentially more action that could take place in Venezuela. The President said earlier this week that it wasn't just boats that could be targeted, but that now they were going to look at cartels that are coming, he said, quote, by land. And we know, according to our own NBC News reporting, that there was even discussion of potential military strikes within Venezuela. That was something that had been on the table, even though that hasn't been necessarily announced or authorized yet.
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Morgan Chesky
And that is all playing out. While the majority of the oxygen in the room is going to discussing government shutdown a lot to keep an eye on over the weekend. White House correspondent Monica Alba. Monica, thanks so much.
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Monica Alba
Thanks, Morgan.
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Morgan Chesky
And not long after our conversation, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US Military hit another small boat off the coast of Venezuela, accusing it of carrying drugs. On Truth Social. President Trump claimed the vessel was, quote, loaded with enough drugs to kill 25 to 50,000 people. He also implied that it was entering American territory. Hegsus said the strike killed four men, but gave no details on who exactly they are. That makes it the fourth strike in the Caribbean with 21 people killed so far. Alright, time now for some headlines. And we begin in California where skies are remaining awfully smoky over El Segundo following a massive fire that tore through a Chevron refinery late last night. Police say the flames broke out around 9:30pm and burned well into this morning. City officials are now reassuring everyone that the fire is no longer a public safety threat, adding that the air quality does not appear to have been compromised. People who live nearby describe hearing this loud bang, then seeing an orange glow essentially engulf the entire refinery right now. The cause of the fire remains unclear, but it reportedly may have originated in a jet fuel production unit. Our nation's Supreme Court justices have about 48 hours before a busy new term kicks off on first Monday. That's the legally mandated start of the court's year on the docket. A slate of high stakes, politically charged cases. Justices are likely going to be weighing in on bans on so called conversion therapy, a challenge to Louisiana's congressional map over alleged racial gerrymandering and disputes over presidential power. And that includes challenges to the tariffs imposed by the current administration. They'll also be hearing arguments on state laws barring transgender athletes from competing in girls sports this term, by the way. Chief Justice John Roberts, 20th year on the bench. We head across the pond now, where history is being made in the Church of England. Bishop of London Sarah Mulally will become the first woman ever to serve as Archbishop of Canterbury. Now, this is a role that dates back nearly 1500 years. King Charles III has formally approved the appointment, making Mulally the 106th leader of the church. Before her rise through the clergy, Mulally was England's chief nursing officer. Kind of an unconventional path to now one of the most powerful pulpits in the Anglican world. She's led the Diocese of London since 2018, and come early 2026, she will take her place at the top of the church. Godspeed, Bishop. All right, that's going to do it for this edition of here's the scoop.
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Monica Alba
Morgan, you know we're not done.
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Morgan Chesky
Come on, the final headline. K Rock. Come on. It looks like we're finished here.
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Matt Bradley
No, you got one more.
- [21:19]
Morgan Chesky
All right. Okay, everybody. Did you really think we weren't going to talk about the other woman making history today? Come on. As you already know, Taylor Swift released her 12th album, the Life of a showgirl. And full transparency, the Swifties at Here's the scoop. Got me Officially read in it is a full return to the upbeat pop music for Taylor, who's writing about finding love on the infamous track five called eldest daughter. And they tell me true fans will appreciate the coveted fifth track slotting. Gotta guess that that's about the one and only fiance, Travis Kelce. And she's also igniting some feud rumors on actually romantic, but it's actually sweet.
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Monica Alba
All the time you've spent on me, it's honestly wild. All the effort you've put in.
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Morgan Chesky
Taylor ends the album on the title track, the life of a Showgirl featuring another favorite, Sabrina Carpenter. Swift has also immortalized her record breaking Eras tour, during which she says she actually wrote this album. And you can hear her final curtain call of the year's long tour.
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Monica Alba
Thank you for an unforgettable night. We will see you next time.
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Morgan Chesky
Give it up. The Band but beyond the music, this is all about Swift Mania at the Midnight Drop, Taylor may have literally broken the Internet. Several users reported they couldn't even find the album or received error messages when going to Spotify to stream the album. Union Station in Kansas City lit up Orange in honor of the album release, and even Target got in on the action, extending their hours to midnight at certain locations for the release of Swift's new album. NBC correspondent and her own resident superfan, Emily Ikeda, happened to be there, so.
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Monica Alba
Fans showed up hours early to get their hands on hard copies of the.
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Morgan Chesky
Life of a Showgirl.
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Monica Alba
What you can't see is I'm currently clutching mine as we speak. And when the album started playing on the speakers, I think collectively this line.
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Matt Bradley
Of fans of all ages, all backgrounds.
- [23:35]
Morgan Chesky
Our jaws just dropped.
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Monica Alba
Travis Kelsey was not wrong when he said brace for 12 straight bangers.
- [23:42]
Morgan Chesky
Having listened to a few songs, look forward to hearing the rest. And with that, we are officially out and ready for the weekend. Thanks for listening to here's the Scoop from NBC News. We'll be back on Monday. Signing off, I'm Morgan Chesky. And hey, if you like what you heard, then like us back. Subscribe to here's the Scoop wherever you get your podcast. And before you go, don't forget to take our quick survey@nbcnews.com forward your feedback means a lot. Later guys.
- [24:20]
Monica Alba
Hey everyone, it's Jenna Bush Hager from Today with Jenna and Friends reminding you to check out my podcast Open Book with Jenna and this week's episode I sit down with best selling author Tim B. Locke. We talk about her one of a kind audiobook Someday Now Finding Love after Loss and the Power of Storytelling to Heal. You can listen to the full conversation by searching Open Book with Jenna Wherever you get your podcast.