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- [00:01]
Courtney Kuby
McCormick knows unbeatable flavor starts with the right spices. It's why we created Flavour Sealed. So anytime you peel back the seal of McCormick herbs and spices, you can be confident they will pack the same amount of flavor as the day they were packed.
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Morgan Chesky
The kind of flavor that brings out.
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Courtney Kuby
The best of your favorite recipes and keeps everyone coming back for seconds or maybe even thirds. McCormick flavor sealed for unbeatable flavor.
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Morgan Chesky
Hey, friends, and welcome to here's the Scoop from NBC News. I'm Morgan Chesky and I'm here to break some news to you. It is officially Friday. On the show today, the latest in the Texas redistricting fight, a leboo heist, and why today may actually be the freakiest Friday since the 1970s. But first, we gotta start with our top story. It Israel's plan to take over Gaza City. The move marks a major escalation in Israel's 22 month long war with Hamas and it's being met with condemnation all around the world. Critics also fear it will endanger the lives of the Israeli hostages who are still being held by Hamas. I want to bring in correspondent Courtney Kuby who covers national security and the military for the NBC News investigative unit. Hey, Courtney, thanks for being here.
- [01:19]
Courtney Kuby
Thanks for having me.
- [01:20]
Morgan Chesky
I know you and your team have been all over this. What have you learned most recently about how Israel's preparing for this, what some are calling a stunning move?
- [01:27]
Courtney Kuby
It's another military buildup near the border with Gaza. Israeli Defense Forces, it appears that they are preparing for some sort of an additional ground movement into Gaza. Now, a lot of people may say, wait, haven't they been operating in Gaza since about October 2023? And the answer is yes. But what makes this a little bit different is this appears to be an effort for sort of a final front that would potentially lead towards Israel moving towards a full occupation of Gaza. Now, we've heard some conflicting information about that. Right. We've heard from some Israeli officials that they think that the Israel should completely occupy Gaza. We heard from Prime Minister Netanyahu just today, he's been putting on social media that Israel will not actually occupy Gaza. The idea here is they want to free the Palestinian people and Gaza from Hamas. But the reality is here the notion of, you know, freeing them from Hamas is eliminating Hamas from Gaza. And that would take a tremendous military undertaking. They have been working to eliminate Hamas for almost two years now. And the idea here is what would be the next step? The big question, Morgan, is is this whole thing a head fake? Is this all about, hey, let's build up a bunch of equipment there and make Hamas think we're about to go into Gaza City or we're about to go into central Gaza with the idea that maybe this get Hamas to the negotiating table. The officials who we spoke with, they said, look, we don't know 100% that this means that Israel is going into Gaza, but it sure is looking that way.
- [02:57]
Morgan Chesky
Head fake or not. There's been condemnation around the world on Netanyahu's statement of what they intend to do here. So what are world leaders saying?
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Courtney Kuby
There has been a huge outcry against the notion of Israel occupying Gaza in any kind of a real military occupation. That being said, there are some possibilities for if Israel were to go in, that another Arab nation could come in, they could help with whether it's bringing in more humanitarian supplies, maybe ultimately at some point rebuilding Gaza. But even that, it does not seem to be at a point where any of this is a real reality here. Just to show you how much opposition there is to the Israeli occupation of Gaza in some parts of the world, Germany just announced that they were suspending shipping some military equipment to Israel if in fact it could be used in Gaza. Now, it's not clear exact what kind of military equipment this is, but it's a sign of how there are some leaders in the world who are just very concerned about the notion of this potentially never ending Israeli military occupation of Gaza and what that could ultimately look like.
- [04:02]
Morgan Chesky
So what about the United States here? We've seen President Trump's relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu kind of evolve recently. What are you hearing in D.C. we're.
- [04:12]
Courtney Kuby
Hearing the exact same thing. When we ask, how real is this? We get the exact same answer from everyone that I've talked to anyway. And that is, look, it's up to Israel. They're going to make the decision here. We've really watched the relationship between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu go up and down over the last several months. We had some new reporting about a phone call that they had about two weeks ago on July 28 that was initiated by Netanyahu. He demanded to speak to President Trump about what was happening, the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Apparently, according to the officials we spoke with, Netanyahu was saying, look, the starvation is not as bad as it looks. Hamas is making it up.
- [04:46]
Ryan Chandler
And.
- [04:47]
Courtney Kuby
And the officials we spoke with said that, look, President Trump lost his temper and he raised his voice at Netanyahu and he said, I have seen the pictures. My people are showing me photos and video of Little kids who are starving. Don't tell me this isn't real. So that leads me to believe that the most immediate thing that the US could potentially get involved in here is some enhanced humanitarian support. I think that is the most likely outlet for the US to help at this point.
- [05:15]
Morgan Chesky
Does this plan by Netanyahu include any aid or assistance to the Gazans?
- [05:21]
Courtney Kuby
Officials believe that as part of this there would be some sort of an enhanced humanitarian support that could be a part of it, but it's not clear if that would be concurrent with the beginning. So as the military operation's beginning or it's something, the idea would be they go in, they clear out an area and then maybe humanitarian. So are we talking days or weeks before the aid actually gets to the people? That part isn't clear.
- [05:43]
Morgan Chesky
In addition to the humanitarian aid, we know Israel's new military operation could also include efforts to retrieve hostages being held by Hamas. But now we've heard from some of the families of those very hostages who are opposed to that idea.
- [05:57]
Courtney Kuby
One of the reasons that some of the hostage families are against the idea of another military offensive into Gaza is because it does present a potential threat and danger to the hostages who are still there and alive. We saw last year in 2024, a 23 year old American Israeli hostage, Hirsch Goldberg, Poland. He and several other hostages were executed as the Israeli military was believed to be moving in on Hamas location. They were found one to two days later. According to Israeli officials. The belief was that Hamas felt the pressure from the Israeli military and killed them.
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Morgan Chesky
Courtney, before we let you go, big picture here, Netanyahu has said that Israel does not want to hold Gaza long term, what exactly does that mean?
- [06:42]
Courtney Kuby
If in fact Netanyahu is able to achieve his goal that he himself has stated of eliminating Hamas, having no more Hamas in Gaza, I don't see a scenario in which he would allow that to ever Hamas to in any way reconstitute. But Hamas is not just about the people. There is an ideology associated with it. I don't see how you eliminate them altogether. And I don't see a scenario that Netanyahu at this point would approve, that wouldn't involve some sort of Israeli military presence there in some capacity for security reasons. And Morgan, we have been talking about this for years now, right? Trying to figure out what does day two look like after these military offensives into Gaza. What happens to the people? What happens to the fact that large, large areas of Gaza have been completely destroyed, razed to the ground? And I still think we are at that point where there are not answers to exactly what Gaza will look like in five years or 10 years. And who will be there?
- [07:47]
Morgan Chesky
Courtney Kuby, always breaking down the complicated stories for us. We appreciate you.
- [07:52]
Courtney Kuby
Thanks.
- [07:54]
Morgan Chesky
All right. Time now for a quick break. But when we're back, the political fight that's bringing the Lone Star State to a legislative standstill. Stick around. Do you want to know what it's.
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Ryan Chandler
Like to hang out with MS.13 in.
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Morgan Chesky
El Salvador or how the Russian mafia.
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Ryan Chandler
Fought battles all over Brooklyn in the 1990s?
- [08:15]
Courtney Kuby
What about that time I got lost.
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Morgan Chesky
In the Burmese jungle hunting the world's biggest meth lab? I'm Sean Williams. And I'm Danny Gold.
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Ryan Chandler
And we're the host of the Underworld podcast.
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Courtney Kuby
We're journalists that have traveled all over.
- [08:26]
Ryan Chandler
Reporting on dangerous people and places.
- [08:28]
Courtney Kuby
And every week we'll be bringing you.
- [08:30]
Morgan Chesky
A new story about organized crime from all over the world, available wherever you get your podcasts. Taking over the helm of NBC Nightly News, a 75 year old broadcast. It's a great responsibility. Good evening. I'm Tom Yamas. You have to go out there to bring people at home closer to the store.
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Ryan Chandler
Wildfires continue to be a threat.
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Morgan Chesky
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, NBC News, I'm Tom Gamas. That's what we do every night.
- [09:01]
Ryan Chandler
NBC Nightly News with Tom Yamas, evenings on NBC.
- [09:09]
Morgan Chesky
Welcome back. Now to here's the scoop. We're gonna jump right in to a bitter fight over redistricting, proving that everything actually is bigger in Texas. If you haven't been following a quick refresher here. Texas Republicans have redrawn a congressional map that could allow them to pick up five more seats in Congress. Democrats don't have enough votes to block the new maps, so dozens of them have left town, breaking quorum and bringing the state capitol to a standstill. They've even been holding events in states they fled to, including Illinois and today, California. Meanwhile, Republicans back home are definitely stepping up their fight to try and get those Democrats back. This is all moving really fast. So I want to call in NBC News correspondent Ryan Chandler. He's in Austin and he joins us now. Ryan, thanks for being here.
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Ryan Chandler
Good to be here, Morgan.
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Morgan Chesky
It sounds like the biggest development recently has been the involvement of the FBI. How does that now change the game? What can they do that state troopers can't regarding these Democrats that have fled the state?
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Ryan Chandler
Well, Republicans are trying to expand their jurisdiction and their ability to arrest Democrats outside of state lines. I talked with Senator John Cornyn, the Texas Republican, over the phone last night, and he said that he sees real cause to investigate the these Democrats for allegations of bribery and that the FBI could lead that investigation in addition to helping Texas law enforcement locate these Democrats across the country.
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Morgan Chesky
Bribery, Ryan, how does that work?
- [10:38]
Ryan Chandler
Well, Senator Cornyn's argument is that Democrats are embarking on a very expensive venture to spend weeks up to months out of state. They are incurring $500 fines per member per day, which will cost more than $400,000 just to make it through this initial special session. And there will be more. So he wants to look into who is funding this. We know that that it's a lot of political contributions, but his argument is that these Democrats are performing a legislative action of cornbreaking in return for donations or payment. It's somewhat novel territory. We'll see how that plays out in the courts and what a potential investigation turns up. But it is a that Cornyn is urging Democrats to take seriously because it raises the stakes to the point where we are no longer just talking about a civil arrest warrant that could allow state troopers to return House Democrats to the House floor. We are now talking about the very real possibility of felony charges and hard time for these Democrats.
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Morgan Chesky
Ryan, before we let you go, I do want to ask about kind of the consequences of this continued standoff, and that is the legislation that's not happening. Specifically some of the flood relief bills that had been drawn up following the tragedy that you and I both covered in Kerrville, in Kerr County. I know you asked Governor Greg Abbott about this specifically. What do you say?
- [12:08]
Ryan Chandler
Morgan, you and I know all too well that there are still people in Kerr county and across Central Texas who are still rebuilding, many of them grieving from the devastating July 4th floods. And they need urgent help. That is a bipartisan issue that nobody disagrees with here at the Capitol. Redistricting has taken the front seat and has really put a blockade against that urgent need for flood relief. I asked the governor why we do not prioritize flood relief first, because nobody will disagree that those bills need to pass and then we can have this nasty partisan fight. And he said that he called many priorities for the special session and he blamed the Democrats for stopping all of them. Now the Democrats I speak to say if you take redistricting off the call because you know that will be a very partisan fight, then everything can pass and then we can have the partisan fight separately. Above all, the politics unfortunately, however you frame it, the reality is it's the people of Kerr county and the Hill country who are caught in the middle of this partisan fight.
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Morgan Chesky
And you and I both know many of them for having covered that over the last few weeks. Tough situation.
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Ryan Chandler
It's been interesting and it's been difficult to watch how unified the state was around Kerr county when that happened, how it cut past all partisan divides and, and Texans were helping Texans, neighbors helping neighbors, regardless of politics. And then we roll right into the most partisan fight we can have, not in addition to, but in spite of the need for flood relief.
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Morgan Chesky
Ryan Chandler, our man in Texas. Thanks for being here, brother.
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Ryan Chandler
Thank you.
- [13:50]
Morgan Chesky
All right. Time now for some headlines. President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are tentatively scheduled to meet sometime at the end of next week. The plan is to talk about bringing an end to the war in Ukraine. But according to a senior White House official, the rest of those details are still being worked out as we speak, including whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will even get an invite. In California, crews are battling a familiar foe, wildfires. The Canyon fire, which broke out just yesterday north of Los Angeles, has already forced thousands of evacuations. Officials say it scorched around 5,000 acres and it's being fueled by high heat and low humidity. Meanwhile, another fire in Central California has now become the state's largest this year. The Gifford fire in Los Padres national forest is approaching 100,000 acres and counting. Staying in California, it is the heist people can't stop talking about. Not because of the dollar value, but the precious cargo a few toy crazed crooks made off with. Authorities in LA say thieves stole about $7,000 worth of LabuBoos. Yeah, those fuzzy grinning dolls everyone's carrying around. This summer, one stop sales in la, Puente posted footage on Instagram where you can hear glass breaking and even see the thieves carting out the goods. Lobos exploded in popularity this year, selling out of stock and even inspiring fakes. So called Lefufus. One life size doll even sold for more than $170,000 back in June. The biggest question, though, that I have yet to get an answer to is where my co host and noted loboo lover Brian Cheung was during said crime. We gotta find that out. Okay, finally, before we let you go, go ahead and cue the millennial nostalgia. Freakier Friday. Yeah. The sequel to beloved Disney hit Freaky Friday just hit theaters with icons Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan reprising their roles as mother and daughter. Back in 03, Lindsay played the punk rock teen who swapped bodies with her uptight mom played by Jamie Lee. Now cast is all grown up. Lohan and Curtis playing a mother and grandmother. And you can put those old posters back up, too. 2000s Hollywood heartthrob Chad Michael Murray, the film's original crush, is reprising his role. Before you think millennials are having all the fun, don't forget the original body swapping comedy Freaky Friday came out back in 1976. Truly a story that spans generations. Alrighty, that's gonna do it for us.
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Courtney Kuby
At here's the scoop from NBC News. I'm Morgan Chesky.
- [16:39]
Morgan Chesky
Wait a minute. Wait, who? What? Was there some kind of host body swap? Hold up, hold up. Check, check. Yeah, much better. I'm Morgan Chesky, and this is actually gonna do it for us at here's the scoop from NBC News. Our show's produced by Amanda Llewellyn and associate producer Kathleen Rocco. Katie Lau is our audio engineer. Our supervising producer is Katie Rimchin. Anne Marie Fertoldi is our executive producer. Our head of audio production is Bryson Barnes. Alexa Danner is our head of audio. Shalini Sharma is the senior executive producer, and Katherine Kim is the executive vice president of editorial. Have a great weekend, friends. We'll be back on Monday with a brand new episode.
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Courtney Kuby
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