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Alan Smith
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Yasmin Vesugian
Happy Halloween, everybody, and welcome to here's the Scoop from NBC News. I'm Yasmin Vesugian. Today marks a full month since the government shutdown began and a federal judge in Rhode island has ordered the US Department of Agriculture to use contingency funds to pay out SNAP benefits, quote, as soon as possible. And he said that if the contingency funds aren't enough, the agency has to use other funding sources to make those payments. NBC News reached out to the White House, the U.S. office of Management and Budget and USDA for comment. The move came just one day before the benefits were set to run out, leaving 42 million Americans on food stamps in the lurch. You know, it's scary for me being a parent. I have to rely now on the kindness of other people to help my son and it's devastating. Meanwhile, ACA open enrollment also kicking off Saturday. And the 24 million Americans on Obamacare are expected to see the largest increase in costs in a decade. It's a perfect storm of rising premiums and the expiration of enhanced subsidies. Democrats main sticking point in the shutdown? Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.
Alan Smith
The talks will go nowhere if Republicans remain completely intransigent and resistant to any compromise on extending the health care coverage.
Yasmin Vesugian
And as the shutdown drags on this weekend, polls are open across the country for early voting with key races in New Jersey, Virginia, California and New York City. Today we are going to focus in on New York, where the mayoral race is forcing big questions within the Democratic Party about the Democratic Party. For more on this, I want to bring in NBC politics reporter Alan Smith, who's been spending a lot of time with the front runner, Zora Mamdani. Alan, thanks for being here.
Alan Smith
Great to be with you. Yasmin, thank you so much.
Yasmin Vesugian
Great to have you. Let's set the stage for folks. Who are the candidates? Where do they stand?
Alan Smith
So, first things first. We're in a really uncommon situation where we've got three people that are still running for mayor that have major platforms. We've got Zoran Mamdani, who is the Democratic nominee. He defeated Andrew Cuomo and a host of others in the June primary. And Cuomo then, after that primary, decided to mount an independent campaign. You've also got Curtis Lewa, who's been a figure in the city for decades now. He founded the Guardian Angels, kind of a citizen patrol group way back in the late 70s, early 80s. He's been a fixture for a long time. He's the Republican nominee. And because of that, you've got a situation where typically what wouldn't really be a very interesting race because the Democrat would be assumed to win a mayoral election, here you have a more interesting situation where it's a real race. As we get closer to Election Day, even as polling has shown Mamdani with a pretty substantial lead throughout the general election campaign and including into Election Day.
Yasmin Vesugian
Mamdani started as a long shot. He was pulling, I believe, in February at 1%. How did he go from that to being the frontrunner, leading by double digits when you put him up against Andrew Cuomo, the former governor?
Alan Smith
I mean, look, taking the politics out of the situation, it really is an incredible rise from someone who was a relatively obscure state assemblyman, very young. He was 33 years old as this campaign got underway. And he had a really, really intriguing social media presence. You know, one of his first major videos after he launched his campaign, it came right after Trump won in November. And you saw major shifts in the Bronx and in Queens from Democrats toward Republicans. And the thing is, those counties still overwhelmingly voted for the Dems, but they were shifts that were so big, they were among the biggest shifts in the entire country. And so Mamdani went out and he spoke with Trump voters, and he asked them what they cared about, why they voted for Trump. Have you voted for Democrats in the past? I have. And what would it take for you to vote for a Democrat in the future? Being able to pay attention to the regular Americans and their economic needs?
Julia Ainslie
They should make economics the forefront of their campaign.
Yasmin Vesugian
People were not really feeling it in.
Alan Smith
Their pocket, and a lot of them were mentioning cost of living, affordability, stuff. And really, he kind of framed his entire campaign around those issues. Now, the other thing is that Cuomo in the primary didn't run much of a campaign at all. And, you know, polling, which is very volatile in a local election like this, much more so than in a state or national election, he had a huge lead and he was kind of relaxed. And while he maintained that polling lead, you know, for most of the primary, as every week passed, Mamdani was getting closer. Mamdani was getting closer, Madani was getting closer. And by the time he got to Election Day, he was within striking distance. And the vote ended up showing that he far exceeded even what his best polls were showing at the time.
Yasmin Vesugian
It's interesting because I think about the candidate Mamdani, and some of his story resembles the early days of then candidate Donald Trump, right, who was also polling at 1 2% and then had this kind of meteoric rise. What is the kind of main messaging that Mamdani is now putting out to New Yorkers?
Alan Smith
He's been talking about cost of living, freezing rent for rent, stabilized units. He wants to, you know, create this program for free buses throughout the city. He wants to enact universal childcare, kind of building off the pre K legislation that Bill de Blasio ended up enacting when he was mayor. But he's. He's honestly someone who really rose in local politics here via, you know, pro Palestinian activism. And obviously, this has been a huge issue given the war in Gaza over the last couple of years. And his opponents have really tried to frame him as very extreme on these issues. Too extreme for the Democratic Party. And, and I think the parallel with Trump is that you've seen throughout this campaign a sense among some Democrats of, you know, oh, well, you know, at some point he will fizzle out, right?
Yasmin Vesugian
Flame out.
Alan Smith
Yeah, he'll flame out. You know, we're going to withhold our support. This is. This is a very risky situation to endorse this person anyways. He's only been able to continue to gain strength or maintain his level of support, even as top Democrats in the state like Kathy Hochul, Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer either waited a very long time to get on board with him as the Democratic nominee or still have not said whether they will vote for him or support him. And that echoes a lot of Trump's 2016 campaign where he was gonna be the Republican nominee for president. That was wrapped up. The math was there, and you still had major Republicans at the time being like, I don't know, If I can get on board. And those two situations were, you know, very, very much parallels for me.
Yasmin Vesugian
Well, and to be clear, Hakeem Jeffries, the House Minority Leader, has, in fact, endorsed him at this point. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has endorsed him. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has, in fact, not, though what is the hesitation there, not only amongst the Democratic Party, but people within New York?
Alan Smith
You know, it really does have to do with his rise in a group known as the Democratic Socialists of America, which has been, you know, a pretty, pretty far left group in left wing politics here, both in New York City, where they've been able to actually gain a lot of power recently and at the national level. I think that's, that's one element of it. And then, you know, you want to talk about Chuck Schumer. He was asked just the other day by, by, by reporters, are you going to vote for Zoran? He said, you know, I've, I've called him recently. We have a good relationship, but he wouldn't even say, not, not just endorse him, but vote for him. And I asked Zoran about those comments in our interview yesterday. And I asked, you know, do you have confidence in Schumer's ability to continue leading Democrats in the Senate? And his response was, I have confidence in my ability to win the election on Tuesday. I have confidence in winning this race, and I have confidence in ensuring that.
Yasmin Vesugian
We transform the most expensive city in.
Alan Smith
The United States of America into one that's affordable.
Yasmin Vesugian
And I often think about my life.
Alan Smith
And my horizons in the manner of that New York cover, where it ends right in New Jersey. That's where the focus is.
Yasmin Vesugian
He's not wanting to wade into, it seems, national waters at the moment. He just wants to get the job done. So, Alan, when we're talking about folks that are not supporting Mamdani right now, Wall street is an area that is pretty nervous about a potential Mayor Mamdani. Why is that?
Alan Smith
I think there are a couple of reasons. I think it is his avowed socialist, you know, policy prescription and political outlook. You know, he wants to do a tax increase for some of these folks. They're concerned that if Mamdani wins, there will be some wealthy New Yorkers who leave the city or take their businesses out of the city and therefore, you know, harm the city's tax base and make it even more difficult to have higher quality of life here. And, you know, for, for his part, Mamdani has really tried to do outreach to members of the business community. He's he's really tried to do outreach to a lot of folks who might be more naturally opposition to him, whether it be the business community, whether it be the nypd. He has tried to extend olive branches and he has tried to come across as someone who wants to compromise, wants to get stuff done and doesn't want to be someone who's leaning so hard on ideology that they're bypassing the ability to do accomplishments and to bring people to the table.
Yasmin Vesugian
You cover national politics along with covering the New York City mayoral race right now. Is he being kind of seen as the future of the Democratic Party? I mean, if he wins this thing, where does that position him on the national stage?
Alan Smith
It's a little bit too early to say. From the Democratic perspective. His polling numbers aren't necessarily great. And this is kind of a phenomenon that you really could only see in a pretty liberal to left leaning city like New York. Republicans want to make him the face of the Democratic Party.
Yasmin Vesugian
Yeah.
Alan Smith
And a lot of them are giddy at the prospect of him winning because they think that when he tries to enact these policies, it's not gonna go well and all of these other Democrats are gonna have to answer for it. Particularly in swing House districts where Democrats. You know, I'm thinking of Tom Suozzi out on Long island who just the other day said, you know, I'm a Democratic capitalist, not a Democratic socialist. They're even seeing advantage and coming out against Mamdani. You can see how this might play in the midterms. And, you know, I've already heard from Republicans who are saying we want to nickname this candidate the Mamdani of the Midwest or the Mamdani of Michigan. They do want to use him as a wedge in these races. And at least early on, it feels as if Democrats are a little bit on their back foot in how they're going to talk about him. And we've seen that play out in this election where it did take a long time for Kathy Hochul to get on board. It did take Hakeem Jeffries a really long time to get on board. The state Democratic Party chair, Jay Jacobs, has said he is not endorsing Mamdani. Schumer has not endorsed him. So there's this huge divide going on over whether to even support the person who is the Democratic nominee, Alan Smith.
Yasmin Vesugian
It's going to be a fun next couple of days. And we're doing an election special together on Tuesday night. You're going to be joining me along with a crew of other people starting at 11pm Eastern going all the way till 1am so it's going to be a fun night. Thank you, Alan Smith. Appreciate it.
Alan Smith
Hey, I'm really looking forward to it, Yasmin. Thank you.
Yasmin Vesugian
By the way, you can catch that election night Special live on YouTube or nbcnews.com 11 to 1am on election night. I'll see you there. All right. We are going to take a quick break. When we're back, Andrew's getting kicked out of the Royal Family. That's next.
LifeLock Advertiser
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Alan Smith
On the night before Halloween in 1975, 15 year old Martha Moxley was murdered. But police failed to make an arrest until in 2000, her one time neighbor Michael Skakel was arrested. He was also a cousin of the Kennedys. The Kennedy connection is the reason that most people know about this case. But the deeper I dug, the more I came to question everything I thought I knew. Dead certain. The Martha Moxley Murder premieres Tuesday, October 28th. Follow now wherever you get your podcasts. This week on Meet the Press. As the government shutdown continues with no end in sight, Kristen Welker sits down with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant, plus Senator Ruben Gallego and a meet the moment conversation with Marcus Samuelsson this week on Meet the Press. Listen to the full episode now. Wherever you get your podcasts.
Yasmin Vesugian
Welcome back to here's the scoop from NBC News. Written in just three short paragraphs, King Charles has officially downgraded his younger brother, Prince Andrew to just Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. The king stripped his younger brother of his royal titles over Andrew's ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew was also evicted from his home Royal Lodge. In this statement from Buckingham palace, the royal family said the move was, quote, deemed necessary despite Andrew continuing, quote, to deny the allegations against him, adding, their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been and will remain with the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse. The family of the late Virginia Giuffre released a statement in response saying, quote, today an ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family brought down a British Prince Giuffre was a survivor of Epstein's abuse and alleged Andrew had sex with her as a teenager. Given this major announcement, I want to bring in Emily Nash, who is a Royal editor at hello Magazine. Hi, Emily.
Emily Nash
Hi. Thank you for having me.
Yasmin Vesugian
Thanks for being here. So just two weeks ago, Andrew announcing he would no longer use his Duke of York title, but now the palace is stripping him of all of his titles. What do we know about where this directive came from and how long in the making it was?
Emily Nash
Well, this latest development has been led by the King in consultation with Prince William and other members of the Royal family. And it really is a sign that they felt they could no longer sit back and not intervene. You know, public opinion had become such that they were forced really to take action. And obviously this is something they've wanted to do for some time, certainly removing Andrew from Royal Lodge. But I think most of us were quite surprised that they went as far as removing his princely title. We'd always been told that that would require an act of Parliament.
Yasmin Vesugian
Why do we think it's happening now?
Emily Nash
I think that this is the culmination of weeks of negative headlines and, you know, the real buildup of scandal around Andrew. We've known for a long time there was more to come, certainly from the Epstein files, but this coincides also with a scandal involving an alleged Chinese spy at the heart of Westminster that he had contact with. And of course, the Gina Jafray's memoir, which has just reignited this story for a whole new audience.
Yasmin Vesugian
What is the scandal involving the Chinese? Could you talk about that?
Emily Nash
There has been a case in court in the UK that's now gone away and it's regarding senior Beijing diplomats who have spent time in the UK with senior figures, government figures and otherwise. But Prince Andrew was known to have met one particular figure on several occasions. This comes on the heels of an earlier alleged spy that he had connections to that came out earlier in the year. So really there has been movement from the King for quite some time behind the scenes. He's been trying to get his younger brother out of Royal Lodge, understanding that the optics of someone who's no longer serving the public living in this huge 30 bedroom mansion were not great and quite frankly starting to really damage the rest of the institution.
Yasmin Vesugian
You mentioned this was a decision made in concert with King Charles making this decision along with Prince William and others. Do we know who those others may be? And what does that say about the future of, of the monarchy, considering that Prince William had such a heavy hand? It Seems in making this decision.
Emily Nash
Well, I think we. We should, you know, focus on the fact that this is the King who has led this, and the directive has come from him. But obviously, in consultation with people, he has to include William in that. William is the future king. You know, should Prince Andrew, now known simply as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, still getting used to that, should he outlive his brother, then it will be William's responsibility to provide for him. So he does have to be in agreement on this deal. And they will have also taken soundings from other members of the family.
Yasmin Vesugian
Of course, it seems that there has been, Emily, a shift in the royal family since Charles has become king. And I say that because of an interview recently that we saw of Prince William on Eugene Levy's show called the Reluctant Traveler. And in this interview, he seemed more open than we had ever really seen Prince William before. And he mentioned words like change.
Alan Smith
I think it's safe to say that change is on my agenda. Change for good. And I embrace that and I enjoy that change. I don't fear it. That's the bit that excites me, is the idea of being able to bring some change, not overly radical change, but changes that I think need to happen.
Yasmin Vesugian
Having covered them for so long. Do you agree there has been a shift?
Emily Nash
Absolutely, there has been a shift. You know, everything has become slightly more open, I would say, from the fact that we're hearing more about the machinations of what's going on in terms of this. This decision that's been made. And that's not to say by any stretch that the story is over, but it's certainly the case that the royal family has really done as much as they can at this stage to show that they've understood public opinion. And crucially, and I think we need to, you know, emphasize this in the statement that their sympathies lie with the survivors and the victims. And when I said earlier about them doing this in consultation with other family members, it's interesting to note that the statement cites their Majesties. And we know that Queen Camilla, you know, is a staunch supporter of survivors of sexual abuse and sexual assault. And she will have felt very strongly about that. I'm sure she was heavily involved in that wording.
Yasmin Vesugian
You're actually part of the Royal Rota. You've taken many royal tours over the years, and you're even flying out to Brazil later today with the prince.
Emily Nash
I am, yes.
Yasmin Vesugian
For the Earthshot Prize, yes. How do you describe the royal family when they're not in front of all of the cameras and the world. Have you seen that side of them at all? Does Prince William really ride an electric scooter or only for television purposes?
Emily Nash
No, he really does. He really does do that. Look, you know, when we see them, obviously we are in a, in a scenario where they're aware that we're media. But I think that I certainly watch them up close when they're on engagements, and quite often it will be in a much more intimate setting. And I really would say that what you see is what you get. And there is a real understanding there of the power of their platform, but also an ability to have fun. And some of the best engagements are when you see William and Kate competing, you know, at some kind of sport, doing something like that, where there's an element of fun and competition, and you really get a sense of what life must be like for them behind closed doors.
Yasmin Vesugian
Emily, thank you.
Emily Nash
It's a pleasure. Thank you.
Yasmin Vesugian
All right, let's get to some headlines. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has rejected a request from Illinois Governor J.B. pritzker to suspend immigration enforcement, including ICE raids, over the Halloween weekend. Pritzker had urged the Trump administration to pause operations so children could, quote, spend Halloween weekend without fear after cell phone video surfaced of federal agents deploying tear gas in neighborhoods near ICE facilities. In a sharp rebuttal, Noem blasted the request as, quote, shameful, accusing Pritzker of pushing, quote, a false narrative to smear law enforcement and defending the raids as essential to, quote, keeping communities safe. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, the Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman sent over the words Happy Halloween when she was asked about a local news report involving ICE agents. According to an advocate who took the pictures who spoke with NBC News, ICE agents were seen wearing Halloween masks in unmarked cars while leaving an area used for immigration enforcement operations in the LA area. The sightings were documented by Harbor Area Peace Patrol, a community volunteer group founded in June of 2025 that monitors and records ice activity. The outlet, L.A. taco, reaching out to Homeland Security and receiving that holiday message in return. Here's senior Homeland Security correspondent Julia Ainslie.
Julia Ainslie
So I talked to a man who wanted to be identified just by his first name, Victor. And he snapped photos of immigration officers leaving a staging area in the LA area wearing a Momo mask and a Chucky mask on Tuesday. And when he shared those with the local news outlet Louisiana. Taco, they got the same response we did from dhs. Happy Halloween. So they're not confirming or denying that their agents might be wearing these masks when conducting raids. We should say we have not heard from anyone who's been arrested by someone and in these masks. But DHS also did not respond when I asked whether these were ICE officers or Border Patrol agents. And they also did not respond when I said couldn't they see more assaults on immigration officers if the people being arrested don't know who it is behind the mask? So still some unanswered questions, but certainly we're not seeing a denial from the Trump administration that this might be part of a new seasonal tactic.
Yasmin Vesugian
This Sunday, Manhattan will be flooded with tens of thousands of runners for the New York City Marathon. But when runners go to sleep at night, they should probably set their clocks back so they don't show up an hour early to the start time in Staten Island. That is right. The New York City Marathon and Daylight Savings kick off on the very same morning. There will definitely be one unlucky marathoner who will find out the hard way they could have stayed an extra hour in bed. Consider this your psa. Tonight is game six of the World Series and the Dodgers chance to even the score or lose it all. The Toronto Blue Jays are leading the series three two, winning game four and game five last night. The Blue Jays absolutely smoked the Dodgers on Wednesday, beating them 5 to 1. Dragon Savage had an outstanding performance that night, avoiding the word historic since nearly every game has been setting the bar higher and higher. The 23 year old had 12 strikeouts, setting a new record for a rookie in the World Series game and the most strikeouts by a pitcher in a game who didn't walk a batter. It is a good day to be a Savage.
Alan Smith
He did the match.
Yasmin Vesugian
He did the monster match.
Alan Smith
The monster match.
Yasmin Vesugian
It is Halloween everybody. Today marks the end of spooky season and the very beginning of Mariah Carey's defrosting. Oh, I'm a lot for Christmas. But before we get into the holiday spirit prematurely, let us acknowledge the spirits roaming the streets tonight. Tonight will be full of candy, haunted houses, costume parties and much, much more. But if you need a last minute costume, why not use some NBC News stories this month as inspiration? Become one of the minds behind the Louvreist with a utility vest and a balaclava. Feeling techy? Print out a Sora 2 logo and stick it on your leg. Now you're an AI cameo. Put on a sheet with eye holes and tape a job application to your chest. Now you're a ghost job. The world is your oyster. Happy Halloween everybody. All right, that's going to do it for us at Heroes of Scoop From NBC News, I'm Yasmin Vesugin. We'll be back Monday with whatever the weekend may bring. And if you like what you heard, then like us back. Subscribe to Here's a Scoop. Wherever you get your podcasts, we'll see you Monday.
LifeLock Advertiser
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Episode: Mamdani’s New York Minute; The Prince Formerly Known as Andrew
Date: October 31, 2025
Host: Yasmin Vesugian (NBC News)
This episode delves into two major stories: the unexpected rise of Zoran Mamdani in New York City’s mayoral race and the unprecedented stripping of royal titles from Prince Andrew by King Charles. Yasmin Vesugian hosts detailed discussions with NBC political reporter Alan Smith and Hello Magazine’s royal editor Emily Nash, untangling the political and cultural undercurrents shaping these evolving stories. The episode closes with notable headlines, from immigration enforcement controversies to a record-breaking World Series.
(Starts ~02:15)
“We’re in a really uncommon situation... typically, the Democrat would be assumed to win... but here you have a real race.”
— Alan Smith (02:50)
“He spoke with Trump voters, and he asked them what they cared about... Being able to pay attention to the regular Americans and their economic needs.”
— Alan Smith (04:25)
“I asked Zoran... do you have confidence in Schumer’s ability to continue leading Democrats? And his response was, I have confidence in my ability to win the election on Tuesday.”
— Alan Smith (08:44)
“Republicans want to make him the face of the Democratic Party ... they do want to use him as a wedge...”
— Alan Smith (11:00)
(Starts ~14:05)
“Written in just three short paragraphs, King Charles has officially downgraded his younger brother, Prince Andrew, to just Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.”
— Yasmin Vesugian (14:05)
“This is the culmination of weeks of negative headlines and... a real buildup of scandal around Andrew.”
— Emily Nash (16:05)
“I think it's safe to say that change is on my agenda. Change for good. And I embrace that... I don't fear it.”
— Prince William, via Alan Smith (18:39)
(Starts ~21:10)
“We’re not seeing a denial from the Trump administration that this might be part of a new seasonal tactic.”
— Julia Ainslie (23:24)
On the Democratic divide:
“There’s this huge divide going on over whether to even support the person who is the Democratic nominee.”
— Alan Smith (11:55)
On the monarchy’s shift:
“Absolutely, there has been a shift. Everything has become slightly more open.”
— Emily Nash (19:01)
On Mamdani’s message:
“He’s not wanting to wade into, it seems, national waters at the moment. He just wants to get the job done.”
— Yasmin Vesugian (09:03)
Halloween musings:
“Today marks the end of spooky season and the very beginning of Mariah Carey’s defrosting.”
— Yasmin Vesugian (24:32)
This episode blends sharp political analysis, thoughtful royal commentary, and lighter evening headlines with NBC’s signature direct, conversational style. From the historic showdown in NYC politics to the overdue reckoning within Britain’s royal family, it’s a snapshot of a moment where institutions old and new are both reckoning with calls for change.