
Loading summary
LifeLock Advertiser
Sometimes an identity threat is a ring of professional hackers. And sometimes it's an overworked accountant who forgot to encrypt their connection while sending bank details.
Peter Ames Carlin
I need a coffee.
LifeLock Advertiser
And you need Lifelock because your info is in endless places. It only takes one mistake to expose you to identity theft. LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second. If your identity is stolen, we'll fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year@lifelock.com specialoffer terms apply.
Yasmin Vesukian
Hey, everybody, and welcome to here's the scoop from NBC News. I'm Yasmin Vesukian. On the show today, we are celebrating 50 years of Bruce Springsteen's iconic album Born to Run. But before we take you to the back streets, we have got a lot to get to. Up first, the latest in the Trump administration's enforcement of crime and illegal immigration. As of last night, National Guard troops patrolling Washington, D.C. are are now carrying firearms. That is according to the federal task force managing the operation. President Trump said he's also looking to expand this crime crackdown to other cities, including Chicago, where according to the city's police statistics, murders, robberies and shootings are all down this year by more than 30%. And then in immigration news, there is an update on a case that has been making national headlines for months now, Kilmar Abrego Garcia. He is the man the Justice Department admitted they mistakenly deported to El Salvador back in March. Well, he was released from federal custody on Friday only to end up right back in ICE custody this morning after a routine immigration check in. Now he's once again facing deportation. Joining me now to break it all down is NBC News legal affairs reporter Gary Grumbach. Hi, Gary.
Gary Grumbach
Hey, thanks for having me.
Yasmin Vesukian
A lot has happened in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia just this weekend. Bring us up to speed on what has happened today.
Gary Grumbach
So you'll remember, Kilmar Roberto Garcia was released from federal custody on Friday, free on bail, ready for him to come back and face the charges against him in Tennessee. He had scheduled an ICE check in appointment at 8am this morning here at the building behind me. This is the federal building here in Baltimore.
Yasmin Vesukian
That was part of what he was told he had to do, which is check in with ICE once he was released. Right?
Gary Grumbach
Exactly. Part of his conditions of release. Right. He'd have more than a dozen conditions of release, including don't drink alcohol in excess, don't do drugs, don't have a weapon. Also check in at ICE at 8am on Monday morning. And usually these kinds of meetings are pretty quick, right? You go in, you meet with an officer from Immigration Customs Enforcement. They talk to you about where you're living, who you're living with, and then they schedule you for your next check in and you're free to go. We've seen several of these people come in today that are not Kilmar, Abrega, Garcia, and they come in and out in 15, 20 minutes. What happened with Kilmar is he walked in after a massive rally that was held here in the square. He said a few words, he walked in for his appointment. And then we got word from his attorney who came out afterwards that he was taking into ICE custody.
Yasmin Vesukian
Do we know why Abrego Garcia was taken into ICE custody today?
Gary Grumbach
His attorney came out and actually gave very little information because he had very little information, they said. They asked, why is he being detained? Apparently ICE did not give them an answer. They asked where he was going to be detained because here in Maryland, there is no ICE facility for long term detainment. So he's going to have to go somewhere pretty far away. And access to counsel is a key part of this entire case as it relates to due process. So they want to make sure they're able to access him as he fights his deport to Uganda.
Yasmin Vesukian
Obrigo Garcia has been accused of being a criminal, and Attorney General Pam Bondi talked about that today as well. He's currently charged with human smuggling, including children. The guy needs to be in prison.
Gary Grumbach
He doesn't need to be on the.
Yasmin Vesukian
Streets like all these liberals want him to be. He's denying all the charges being made by the US Government and by Bondi. What is the reaction that you're hearing so far to what AG Bondi is actually saying?
Gary Grumbach
So the Trump administration, AG Bondi, Secretary Noem, and others are calling him all sorts of things, from a monster to a child predator, which we have no evidence of. What is factual here is that he's being charged with human smuggling in Tennessee and that he is thought to be a member of MS.13 gang. That is something he denies. It is something his family denies, and it's something his attorneys deny.
Yasmin Vesukian
Have we done any investigative reporting to understand whether or not he actually is a part of the gang, that he has any kind of previous criminal charges on him or previous record that we know about?
Gary Grumbach
So you'll remember this all started back in March when he was wrongly deported from the United States to El Salvador, the only country in this world where he could not go because he had a withholding of removal. And around that time, we did do quite a bit of reporting. We went up to Hyattsville, Maryland, where some of the incidents happened. In 2019. There was one informant that said he, he had some tattoos and he was wearing a shirt and a hat. That meant he was a part of the MS.13 gang. Beyond that one single anonymous informant, there is no evidence actually that he's a member of the MS.13 gang.
Yasmin Vesukian
So there's two possible locations in which he could be deported to. One is, as you mentioned, Uganda. Why Uganda?
Gary Grumbach
So Uganda just this past week has said they will start taking in migrants as long as they don't have a criminal record. Now, this is a whole new process for the State Department. They've never sent migrants to Uganda before. So they are still, according to the State Department, working through the process of actually how this would work. Would he be detained when he's in Uganda? Of course he speaks Spanish. He does not speak the language of Uganda. He does not know anyone in Uganda. It would certainly be a foreign country to him.
Yasmin Vesukian
There's also a possibility of Costa Rica as well.
Gary Grumbach
There is that possibility, but that possibility might be off the table. What they wanted to happen was he plead guilty to the two charges against him in Tennessee. He served that time he in a federal prison in the United States and then be deported to Costa Rica, where he speaks the language. And Costa Rican officials have said to the United States government they'd be happy to take him, he would be treated as a refugee and he'd be free to go because he didn't plead guilty to those charges. It does appear that that offer is now going to be off the table by the US Government.
Yasmin Vesukian
And by the way, he could actually be deported before he actually faces trial.
Gary Grumbach
Oh, absolutely. And frankly, we expect that to happen because it's basically two parts of the Department of Justice kind of working against each other here, Right? You've got one part of the Department of Justice in Tennessee who's trying to win this case, Right. They have a criminal case against this man. They would like to prove to a jury that he's guilty. That would happen at the end of January if this were to go through. But then you've got the other part of the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security who are saying, no, this man is a criminal. This man has a final order of removal and he deserves to be deported from this country.
Yasmin Vesukian
Meanwhile, Gary, you have this split screen moment, right, where you have what's happening with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, along with the National Guard remaining in Washington, D.C. kids going back to school. And we're hearing from the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement telling us the agents aren't going to be at D.C. schools, but they could end up on campuses.
Gary Grumbach
Yeah. Today is the first day of school for 52,000 D.C. students across more than 100 of their public schools. Big day. You remember the first day of school, right? It was exciting. You're getting ready.
Yasmin Vesukian
You have maybe your outfit out. You knew what you were gonna wear.
Gary Grumbach
Exactly, right? You've been planning this for days. You're taking the bus in a big city, you're taking the Metro. But as these students were walking to school this morning, it's very likely they passed by some National Guardsmen who are carrying pistols. It's very likely they were passing by some hsi, some Homeland Security investigation folks, or some ICE folks, or some folks from the Park Police or Metro pd who are all in the city as part of the President Trump's federal surge.
Yasmin Vesukian
Of resources to D.C. so then there's this possible expansion. I mean, over the weekend, you had the President essentially putting out on social media that he's kind of turning his eye. Now we're looking at possibly in Baltimore, Chicago, New York, even. This is something I think that we anticipated. But are we seeing a timeline for this? Are those mayors welcoming the presence of the National Guard? What is the reaction overall we're getting from this?
Gary Grumbach
So this is fascinating, right, because D.C. currently has about 2,200 National Guardsmen on the ground from five or six different states. You've got hundreds of federal agents from more than a dozen different agencies. DC, of course, is not like other states, in part because it is not a state. So if you're going to go into Baltimore or if you're going to go into Chicago, Illinois, you have to get through the Democratic governors in those states first.
Yasmin Vesukian
Not unlike what we saw in Los Angeles, by the way.
Gary Grumbach
Very similar, in fact. And I think a lot of the same issues are going to pop up if he tries to deploy the Maryland National Guard or the Illinois National Guard to the streets of Chicago or Baltimore. You're going to see some of the same legal issues pop up. You're going to see lawsuits start flying, and it's going to make for a very different situation.
Yasmin Vesukian
Gary Grumbach, are you a Bruce Springsteen fan?
Gary Grumbach
You know, occasionally he's a little before my time, but I do. I do like a good Bob.
Yasmin Vesukian
A Jersey fan.
Gary Grumbach
I'm a Jersey guy. I'm from New Jersey, so I'M a Bruce guy.
Yasmin Vesukian
So what's your favorite Bruce song?
Gary Grumbach
Born to Run.
Yasmin Vesukian
What? And the 50th anniversary of born to Run is coming up in our next conversation. Gary Grumbach, thank you. Thank you. Following our conversation with Gary, a judge temporarily blocked Abrego Garcia's deportation to Uganda, ordering that he stay detained here in the US until an evidentiary hearing is scheduled, which can happen as early as this week. All right, we'll be right back with that Bruce Springsteen deep dive. So meet me across the river, I mean, after the break.
Strict Scrutiny Podcast Host
This Supreme Court term isn't business as usual. It's a full blown battle over democracy. Justices are shattering precedent, grabbing power and even turning on their own. It's messy, it's high stakes, and it's already reshaping how this country works. And our podcast, strict scrutiny breaks it all down legally, clearly, and with just the right amount of side eye. New episodes drop every Monday. Subscribe and listen wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube.
LifeLock Advertiser
Have you ever wondered what it's like to be buried in an avalanche?
Peter Ames Carlin
Weird foreign feeling of despair or how.
LifeLock Advertiser
It feels to crash a skydive?
Yasmin Vesukian
I remember feeling my body hit the ground.
LifeLock Advertiser
These are the stories you'll hear on the podcast called what was that Like? True stories told by the actual person.
Gary Grumbach
Who went through it.
LifeLock Advertiser
And you'll hear actual 911 calls 911.
Yasmin Vesukian
There's a man at my back door trying to get in search for what.
LifeLock Advertiser
Was that like on any podcast app or@whatwasthatlike.com.
Yasmin Vesukian
And we're back with here's the scoop. Well, today marks 50 years since Bruce Springsteen released his album Born to Run. Screen Doors of Lambs These days we know the album, Bruce's third, as a masterpiece. It is pure Americana. And of course, the title track is a staple of 5K playlists everywhere. But making the album back in the 70s, that was a make or break moment for the Boss. So to take us back, I'm going to bring in the music journalist Peter Ames Carlin. He's the author of Tonight in Jungle, a new book about the behind the scenes of this album, on top of another 2012 biography of Bruce Springsteen as well. Peter Ames Carlin, welcome.
Peter Ames Carlin
Thank you for having me.
Yasmin Vesukian
So, Peter, Bruce had two albums before Born to Run that were very well regarded but didn't necessarily sell. So with Born to Run, his back was up against the wall. Essentially. They told him, this has got to be a hit or you're going to get dropped from Columbia Records. Walk us through that moment for him.
Peter Ames Carlin
Well, I think it was a little destabilizing for him because he had made two really good records that were incredibly well reviewed. The first record, Greetings from Asbury Park, New Jersey. There was like, a chorus of critics who essentially said, this is the next Bob Dylan. This is going to be huge. And then it turned out that it wasn't. You know, he sold maybe 20,000 copies of it. So it didn't really take him anywhere. The next record that came out just like nine, ten months later, the Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle, had exactly the same arc, rave reviews in all the most important newspapers and magazines. But when it got to radio stations, the disc jockeys didn't pick up on it. Just didn't sound like anything else on their playlists. And at that point, Columbia Records was like, you know, maybe we're done with this guy. He's not getting anywhere with us.
Yasmin Vesukian
Wow.
Peter Ames Carlin
They just told him when the time came for him to start making a third record, they said, look, why don't you make one single, and if it sounds like it could get on the radio, we'll give you the rest of the money for the album. So this was it. It was sort of an existential, essential moment for him as an artist because he was either going to make a record that his company was going to get behind, or else they were going to drop him and send him back to the Jersey Shore.
Yasmin Vesukian
How did he go about writing it? Did he take that into the writing room?
Peter Ames Carlin
Well, I mean, it was. You know, Bruce is always a very exacting artist, and that really blossomed during the Born to Run sessions because he understood that this was it, that there wasn't really any tomorrow if he didn't get this one right. And so they spent six months just to record the one song, Born To Run. You know, I mean, obviously they were working between tour dates and on all their different travels, and they'd come in for a day or two and then leave and come back a week or two later. And so it was like that. But on the other hand, they were also doing every single idea that came into his head. They would spend time trying to see if it would work. There were strings that they put on Born to Run. There was a choir of women singers, different keyboard sounds and guitar sounds that they tried and then didn't use. And then nearly tormenting Clarence Clemens, the saxophone player, to death by forcing him to replay the same solos over and over and over and over again. Not just to get the notes right, but to get the Intonation and the falloffs and the exact feeling that Bruce thought this particular note needed to express, it was very exacting work, and it, it. It took him forever.
Yasmin Vesukian
When you had Columbia Records listen to the single Born to Run, at what point did they say, not only is this going to be a hit, but we need the whole album?
Peter Ames Carlin
Well, it took them a while, you know, I mean, they listened to it in late August of 19, but, I mean, it was hard to get through the wall of indifference. And so his then manager, Mike Appel, got so tired of not getting his calls returned that he bootlegged their own recording and made a few dozen copies and sent them to friendly disc jockeys around the country who immediately put it on to their radio stations. And those began to kick up so much of a buzz that finally the guys at Columbia, when they got over being mad at having their own records bootlegged by the people who made it, they said, okay, fine, go for it. Let's see what you can do. And that's when they really sent him back into the studio to, you know, to try to make a new record.
Yasmin Vesukian
So I was re. Listening to the album this morning, preparing to talk to you and listening to Born A Rum, which I hadn't listened to, in all honesty, in a while. You know, it kind of evokes this sense of, like, freedom, right? Like you just want to rise up and you want to conquer and you want. You want to just keep going, even in those most down moments of your life. And I know everybody kind of takes something different from this music, but I'm wondering if that was a reflection, really, of what he was going through in that moment, knowing he was literally writing for the rest of his career. Writing to save himself, in a way.
Peter Ames Carlin
Yeah. I mean, you're. You're looking for freedom, but you ain't there yet. You know, it's the journey, it's the pursuit of it that is really at the heart of Born to Run. In the title track, there's that line where he says, we're gonna get to that place where we really want to go and we'll walk in the. But what's interesting to me about that is that he has no idea where that place is or what it looks like. All he knows is that it must be out there somewhere. All he knows is that he's got a car and he's got a girl and he's got a tank full of gas and he wants to hit the road and get out of here. And so in a way, the victory isn't the destination, it's in the journey and in having the guts to leave and give it a try.
Yasmin Vesukian
Love that.
Peter Ames Carlin
And that is at the heart of that record. It's not like Born to Get Somewhere, it's Born to run.
Yasmin Vesukian
Peter Ames Carlin. His new book is tonight In Jungle Land. Thank you.
Peter Ames Carlin
My pleasure. Thanks for having me.
Yasmin Vesukian
All right, let's get to some headlines. A deadly strike on Gaza's Nasser hospital has left at least 19 people dead, including five journalists, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The attack hit the hospital's fourth floor in Khan Younis and was described by the health ministry as a double tap strike with a second missile landing just as rescue crews rushed in. The Israeli military says it's investigating and quote, regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and does not target journalists as such. This is just the latest hit on the hospital, which has come under fire multiple times during the nearly two year long war. South Korea's president is in Washington today for a meeting with President Trump on The docket, a $150 billion shipbuilding package which includes the construction of new US shipyards, training personnel and US Navy ship maintenance. And they're hoping the name appeals to the president. Make America Shipbuilding great again. It is part of this last minute trade deal that South Korea struck last month with the president and comes after a long time of instability in the country, which had spent months without a permanent leader. Mississippi has declared a public health emergency after its infant mortality rate hit the highest level in more than a decade, 9.7 deaths per 1,000 live births, nearly double the national average. Since 2014, more than 3,500 babies in the state haven't made it to their first birthday. Health officials call it a crisis, and they're rolling out a plan that includes more prenatal care, expanding community health programs and safe sleep education for families. Black infants are especially at risk, dying at more than twice the rate of white infants. The hope is that this emergency declaration speeds up resources. To help reverse the trend, start playing the Gwen Stefani song on a loop. You have to manifest if you're trying to get rich quick. Tonight could be your lucky night. Since Saturday's Powerball drawing had no winners, the cash prize rose to a colossal $750 million. The 10th largest Powerball prize could be yours. If you play tonight. The odds might not be in your favor, though. You're more likely to be killed by lightning or a meteorite than winning the Powerball. But as hockey legend Wayne Gretzky said, you miss 100% of the shots you do not take. So if you catch me at the convenience store tonight, mind your business. Well, that's going to do it for us at Here's a scoop from NBC News. I'm Yasmin Vesugin. Thanks for listening. We'll be back tomorrow with whatever the day may bring.
Peter Ames Carlin
Taking over the helm of NBC Nightly News, a 75 year old broadcast, It's a great responsibility.
Gary Grumbach
Good evening.
Peter Ames Carlin
I'm Tom Yamas. You have to go out there to bring people at home closer to the store. Wildfires continue to be a threat. With that massive hurricane comes the massive response. The best reporters in our business know how to listen. And when you listen, you get the truth. For NBC News, for NBC News. For NBC News, I'm Tom Yamas. That's what we do every night, NBC.
LifeLock Advertiser
Nightly News with Tom Yamas. Evenings on NBC.
Date: August 25, 2025
Host: Yasmin Vossoughian
Guests: Gary Grumbach (NBC News legal affairs reporter), Peter Ames Carlin (music journalist and Springsteen biographer)
Main Themes: Immigration enforcement and controversy in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere; The 50th anniversary of Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run and its transformational importance in Springsteen’s career.
This episode of Here’s the Scoop moves from urgent political and legal developments around immigration enforcement and the increased federal presence in D.C. to a rich, in-depth conversation about the legacy of Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run as the album turns 50. Host Yasmin Vossoughian is joined first by legal affairs reporter Gary Grumbach in a detailed look at both the controversial case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and the Trump administration’s expanded “crime crackdown,” before pivoting to a spirited, insightful musical deep dive with biographer Peter Ames Carlin.
Guest: Peter Ames Carlin, author of Tonight in Jungle Land and a 2012 Springsteen biography
This episode exemplifies the show’s promise: a crisp, clear, and insightful rundown of both urgent news and cultural milestones—something to mull over as you wrap up your day.