New GLP-1 Pills, Vaccine Schedules and ACA Costs – Plus, Last Ditch Holiday Shopping

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Here's the Scoop" – New GLP-1 Pills, Vaccine Schedules, and ACA Costs – Plus, Last Ditch Holiday Shopping

Host: Yasmin Vossoughian (NBC News)
Date: December 23, 2025
Featured Guests: Dr. Natalie Azar (NBC News Medical Contributor), Bill Cairns (NBC News Meteorologist), Shaquille Brewster (NBC News Correspondent), Brian Chung (NBC News Data & Business Correspondent), Ryan Nobles (Chief Capitol Hill Correspondent)

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into three timely and pressing healthcare stories—the arrival of pill forms for popular GLP-1 weight loss drugs, proposed changes to childhood vaccine schedules, and concerns over soaring health insurance costs as ACA subsidies expire. The show also covers last-minute holiday shopping strategies, travel/weather advisories, economic outlook, and closes out with key headlines including the latest Epstein document release, a major military announcement, and Lindsey Vonn's Olympic comeback.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Healthcare Anxiety and GLP-1 Weight Loss Pill Approvals

• Context: Nearly half of US adults are anxious about rising healthcare costs approaching the new year—the highest since tracking began in 2021.
• GLP-1 Pills:
  • The FDA has approved a pill version of Wegovy (GLP-1 weight loss drug by Novo Nordisk). A similar product from Eli Lilly is expected soon.
  • Significance:
    • Increased competition may lower costs.
    • Pills appeal to those “needle-phobic” and increase accessibility.

Notable Quote:

"One is that we need more competition in the marketplace because, as we've discussed many times... costs of these medicines are just so astronomical. But secondly, a lot of people are, you know, needle-phobic... There's something more palatable... about taking a pill."
— Dr. Natalie Azar [02:03]

• Effectiveness Comparison:

  • Wegovy pill: ~13.6% body weight loss (compared to 15% with injection).
  • Eli Lilly pill: ~11.5% loss (vs. 20-21% with injectable Zepbound).
  • Pills are somewhat less effective, likely due to differences in absorption through the digestive tract.

• User Experience:

  • The Wegovy pill must be taken on an empty stomach 30 minutes before food/drink; the Lilly pill does not have such restrictions, potentially improving patient compliance.

Quote:

"In terms of patient compliance, I think people will be more compliant with the Lilly pills... I forgot to take it this morning, I can take it later in the afternoon.”
— Dr. Natalie Azar [03:54]

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2. Childhood Vaccine Schedule Changes and Measles Uptick

• Rising Measles Cases: Sparks debate over current immunization practices.
• HHS to Overhaul Schedule:
  • Goal: Give fewer shots to children.
  • Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) discussions have surfaced claims the US “over-vaccinates”—a narrative Dr. Azar strongly disputes.

Quote:

“There's a big difference between how many vaccinations are available versus recommended versus mandatory... a lot of comparison was made to Denmark, and it really is like comparing apples to oranges.”
— Dr. Natalie Azar [04:45]

Key Changes Highlighted:

• Hepatitis B Vaccine:
  • Birth dose no longer recommended for women who test negative for Hep B.
  • Dr. Azar warns this is a risk: The universal birth dose led to dramatic reductions in Hep B transmission, especially as not all mothers are retested or accurately screened.

Quote:

“...this was what we refer to kind of as a safety net. And now there's the idea that this hepatitis B first dose should be given a month later. It's not backed by science.”
— Dr. Natalie Azar [06:54]

• Combined MMRV Vaccine:

  • Combined MMRV dose (includes chickenpox) is no longer recommended before age 4 due to slightly increased risk of febrile seizures.

• Professional Response:

  • Pediatricians, AMA, AAP and other groups are clashing with CDC/ACIP—doctors may continue to recommend the old schedules, checking CDC guidance date stamps for updates.

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3. ACA Subsidies Expiring: Implications for Insurance Costs

• Loss of ACA Subsidies:
  • Premiums may double or more for many, up to $2,000/month.
  • Dr. Azar warns of a coming crisis: People may forego insurance and necessary preventive screenings, leading to more advanced disease and higher overall costs.

Quote:

“You can't just have sick people have health insurance. You need to have healthy people have insurance... they're not going to be catching conditions early... that's going to cost the healthcare system significantly more than the cost of the subsidies would have.”
— Dr. Natalie Azar [09:17, 10:08]

• Outlook for 2026:
  • GLP-1 medications will dominate news, now being studied for broad indications (neurodegenerative diseases, PCOS, renal disease, sleep apnea).
  • Positive policy notes: Medicare's new ability to negotiate prices on top drugs and new out-of-pocket caps for seniors, as well as anticipated better coverage for breast imaging.

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4. Holiday Travel and Weather Update

Weather:

• Heat: Half the US could see unseasonably warm temps (even barbecuing on Christmas!).
• West: Disaster-level rain events in Southern California (atmospheric rivers), mudslides, evacuations for hundreds, especially near recent burn scars.
• Northwest: Recent and ongoing flooding in Washington and Northern California, with some tragic outcomes.
• East: Mostly clear until Friday's expected snowstorm (Philadelphia to Boston). Friday night air/road travel likely to be disrupted.

Quote:

"We have what's going to happen in the west, which is going to be horrendous... water rescues taking place, another atmospheric river event... half of their annual rain on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day."
— Bill Cairns [14:48]

Travel:

• Record numbers: AAA projects 122 million people traveling, most by car (boosted by low gas prices—20 cents a gallon lower than last year).
• Air travelers should brace for delays (~2,000 nationwide as of recording).

Tips:

• Arrive early, download your airline's app for updates. — Shaquille Brewster [16:50]

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5. Last-Minute Holiday Shopping Strategies

Store Hours:

• Major chains are open late or even overnight (Target, Kohl’s until midnight; Burlington sometimes until 1am).
• Online: Walmart & Amazon offer same-day/next-day shipping, but selection is limited close to Christmas.

Quote:

“Walmart, Amazon, they still have same day shipping options that if you order today, it could arrive tomorrow... Walmart has express shipping…order as late as 5pm tomorrow on Christmas Eve and still get it in time.”
— Brian Chung [18:40]

Sales & Savings:

• Black Friday usually offers the best sales, but some winter goods (clothes, décor) are actually more deeply discounted now.

Gift Ideas:

• Digital gifts: Grubhub, Uber Eats, Netflix, e-gift cards.
• Unique ideas: Costco membership, experiential gifts (Airbnb, Spa Finder, Giftery for lessons/activities).

Quote:

"You don't even need to necessarily wait for a package... You can do a lot of digital gifts... gift someone a Costco membership... get a credit you can book for a later time." — Brian Chung [20:45]

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6. Economic Snapshot: GDP and Spending

• Q3 GDP grew at a 4.3% rate, above expectations.
• Growth attributed to robust consumer spending (not including holiday shopping).
• Preliminary holiday estimates: over $1 trillion spent, driven by both increased consumer quantity and higher prices.

Quote:

“That is well above what economists had thought... there was an increase in consumption... the American economy... is driven by you and me doing shopping.”
— Brian Chung [21:58]

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7. Quick News Headlines

• Epstein Investigations: DOJ releases 30,000 new pages, including uncorroborated claims involving former President Trump; concerns about redactions and incomplete disclosure.
• Russia-Ukraine War: Overnight Russian strikes kill at least four in Ukraine; warnings of possible Christmas attacks.
• US Military/Politics: Trump administration unveils plans for “Trump Class” battleships; legal controversy over renaming the Kennedy Center.
• Sports: Lindsey Vonn’s Olympic Comeback: At age 41, qualifies for 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics after robot-assisted knee surgery—a history-making return.

Quote:

“Vonn made a return to the circuit thanks in large part to a customized, robot-assisted knee replacement surgery... became the oldest alpine skier in history to win a CUP event.”
— Yasmin Vossoughian [End section]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• GLP-1 Pill Accessibility:

  "We need more competition in the marketplace ... a lot of people are, you know, needle-phobic and they don't love the idea of an injection. There's something more palatable... about taking a pill."
  — Dr. Natalie Azar [02:03]

• Vaccine Schedule Debate:

  "It's not backed by science. The whole idea here is to protect kids when they are first born."
  — Dr. Natalie Azar [06:54]

• ACA Subsidy Loss:

  "You're going to see people who aren't able to participate in any preventive screening... that's going to cost the healthcare system significantly more."
  — Dr. Natalie Azar [10:08]

• California Weather Catastrophe:

  "...water rescues taking place... half of their annual rain on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day... a pretty serious situation and it's horrific for Southern California."
  — Bill Cairns [14:48]

• Holiday Shopping Tricks:

  “Some of those winter sweaters, some of the holiday decor... are more deeply discounted now than they were a month ago.”
  — Brian Chung [20:12]

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Healthcare Anxiety & GLP-1 Pills: 00:53–04:20
• Childhood Vaccine Schedules: 04:20–08:54
• ACA Subsidies: 08:54–12:09
• Weather / Travel Outlook: 14:01–16:39
• Holiday Shopping Tips: 18:08–21:42
• Economic Context: 21:42–23:07
• Quick News Headlines: 23:08–End

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Original Tone & Voice

Throughout, the episode maintains a brisk, news-focused, conversational tone—mixing pragmatic reporting, moments of humor, and expert-driven explanation.
Example:

“I come bearing the gifts of numbers. A lot of them.”
— Brian Chung [18:21]

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Summary Takeaways

• FDA approval of GLP-1 pills for weight loss may broaden access, but effectiveness and regime convenience vary between brands.
• Proposed changes to vaccine schedules spark significant debate between federal agencies and medical associations, especially regarding Hep B dosing at birth.
• Loss of ACA subsidies could impose severe financial burdens on millions.
• Holiday travelers face a split: record warmth in parts, record flooding and snow in others.
• Procrastinators can still score last-minute holiday deals—both in-store and online—with digital gift options in abundance.
• The US economy shows surprising resilience with strong consumer spending.
• News wrap covers the Epstein files, Ukraine updates, major military announcements, and a feel-good sports story with Lindsey Vonn.

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This episode is an invaluable listen for Americans navigating the intersection of healthcare changes, holiday logistics, and economic reality as 2025 draws to a close.

Transcript

[Hoda Kotb]

Hey, guys, I'm Hoda Kotb. Look, I know how busy life can get, and sometimes we all just need a moment to pause and connect. Well, that's what my podcast Making Space is all about. Real conversations with people who've learned how to live with purpose and heart. Think authors, thought leaders, actors, performers. And every time I walk away with something that changes how I see the world. And I think you will, too. Join me for Making Space every week with wherever you get your podcasts.

[Meet the Press Promo Announcer]

This week on Meet the Press, just after President Trump's primetime address to the nation, and as tensions mount with Venezuela and warning signs over the economy grow, Kristen Welker sits down with Senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Kay this week on Meet the Press. Listen to the full episode now. Wherever you get your podcasts.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Welcome to here's the scoop of NBC News. I'm Yasmin Desugin. It is the final hours ahead of the holiday week and we are bringing you what you need to know before you hit the skies. The roads and that late night shopping trip. Plus a fresh batch of Epstein documents. And the legendary alpine skier heading back to the Olympics years after her retirement. But first, our top story. A new survey finds that nearly half of us adults are anxious about rising healthcare costs heading into the new year. It is the highest since West Health and Gallup began tracking the figure back in 2021. Also, there's some big news on the GLP1 front that could make the weight loss drug more accessible. So today we wanna talk about that and other healthcare issues on Americans minds heading into the new year. I Wanna bring in Dr. Natalie Azar, NBC News medical contributor. For more on this. Hi, Dr. Azar.

[Dr. Natalie Azar]

Hey, Yasmin.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

How are you? I'm great. Let's Talk first about GLP1s and the FDA approving a pill version of WeGovy this week. That's the GLP1 weight loss drug from Novo Nordisk. We also are expecting another one from Eli Lilly in the coming months. This is, this is a pretty significant development.

[Dr. Natalie Azar]

Yeah, I don't really think we can overstate how significant simply because of two main reasons. One is that we need more competition in the marketplace because as we've discussed many times on many of our platforms, the costs of these medicines are just so astronomical. So supply and demand, Economics 101, we want to have more competition in the marketplace. But secondly, it is true that a lot of people are, you know, needle phobic and they don't love the idea of an injection. There's something more palatable about, if not conventional, about taking a pill as a medication as opposed to an injectable.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Are they as effective as the injectables?

[Dr. Natalie Azar]

So what was kind of interesting about the data from both of these is that the Wegovy pill is more closely comparable to its injectable form. So participants who took the Wegovy pill in the study period lost about 13.6% of their body weight compared to 15% who took the Wegovy injection, the Lily pill. The numbers are a little bit more disparate. So the pill resulted in about like 11 and a half percent of body weight loss, as opposed to up to 20 or 21% with injectable, you know, zepbounds, let's say. And I don't know exactly how to account for those differences, but I should say that it is. Again, we usually expect the pill to be a little bit less effective because it has to go through all of these, this breakdown process in the gut. And so you generally don't get the same blood level as you do with an injection. In fact, the oral doses are significantly higher, just milligram per milligram, than the injectable doses are. I think the biggest distinction between these two meds is gonna be the following. The Wegovy pill has restrictions around how and when you take it. It needs to be taken on an empty stomach about 30 minutes before eating or drinking anything else every day. And the Lily pill does not. And I can tell you just, you know, in terms of patient compliance, I think people will be more compliant with the Lily pills. Oh, I forgot to take it this morning. I can take it later in the afternoon, for example.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Right.

[Dr. Natalie Azar]

But, you know, the same, you know, safety profile, you know, no new safety signals or anything like that.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

So a lot happening when it comes to healthcare across the country. And I wanna talk immunizations as well. We have seen an increase in measles cases across the country. There are now reports that Health and Human Services is also planning to overhaul the childhood immunization schedule with the goal of giving kids fewer shots. Walk me through what is going on here and what that schedule could feasibly look like.

[Dr. Natalie Azar]

So to listen to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices have a conversation about the immunization schedule would lead one to believe that we are over vaccinating our children unnecessarily and that there's no scientific basis or argument for the current schedule, which is totally and completely false. There's a big difference between how many vaccinations are available versus recommended versus mandatory. And I think, you know, they kind of amplified this idea that we give so many vaccines in our country unnecessarily. And a lot of comparison was made to the vaccines schedule in Denmark. And it really is like comparing apples to oranges in terms of, you know, universal health care, prenatal screening, health literacy, access to healthcare, and all of these things. And so, you know, I think a lot of the history behind our recommendations and then, you know, if we're going to talk about the hepatitis B specifically, is that a lot of our recommendations are really meant to serve the population as a whole. But I think the way ACIP sort of couches it is that the parents don't have a choice and that parents are being forced to do all these immunizations and that if given the opportunity to have a conversation, they would choose not to.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

So do we know how the recommendations are actually going to change, how it changes the schedule?

[Dr. Natalie Azar]

So, I mean, they've already started, right, with the big news on the birth dose for the hepatitis B vaccine, that they are no longer recommending the birth dose to women who have tested negative for hepatitis B, which sounds logical. Oh, if I test, you know, negative for hepatitis B, I don't need it. That's one big change. And that's of course, like, caused a tremendous amount of concern for all of us because ever since that birth dose was recommended within the first 24 hours, there was a dramatic reduction in the number of hepatitis B cases in this country. Mainly because, you know, you can test negative for hepatitis B and then subsequently become exposed in a pregnancy.

[Brian Chung]

Right?

[Dr. Natalie Azar]

And so you won't get retested, you won't know that you're positive. Sometimes we get a false negative test. And thirdly, not everyone is getting tested. You know, we have a really big country with a lot of variations in health coverage and prenatal care. And so this was what we refer to kind of as a safety net. And now there's the idea that this hepatitis B first dose should be given a month later. It's not backed by science. The whole idea here is to protect kids when they are first born. Because of that vertical transmission from mom to baby. There was already a change in the combined MMRV vaccine. You know that the measles mump rubella vaccine. Right. And the varicella. There used to be a combined one that added the chickenpox vaccine. They no longer recommended that. Combined vaccines not recommended anymore before the age of four. P.S. most pediatricians didn't recommend it anyway. There's a slightly Higher risk of febrile seizures associated with the combination. I don't know what else is going to happen, Yasmin. We will see. I mean, you know, we all know when we've had kids, we look at the schedule and it's like, oh, my goodness, like, for example, whooping cough. It's two months, four months, six months, 15 and 18 months, and then kindergarten. But there's a reason for that.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

My brother, who was born in the. In the mid-70s, actually almost died of whooping cough when he was an infant. So certainly something that could really affect families in a detrimental way. But doctors are still going to be making these recommendations, even with the changes in the immunization schedule.

[Dr. Natalie Azar]

100%. I mean, what we're going to see, and we've already seen that the American Academy of Pediatrics is totally clashing with the CDC and with asap, Right? We are looking to, at this point, the American Medical association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American College of Obstetrics and gynecologists. Like, those are all the places where I'm looking. Or if I look at a CDC vaccine recommendation, I look at the timestamp on it to make sure it hasn't been altered, to make sure that I'm still giving, you know, the best guidance to my patients.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Okay. So with all of that, we also have what is happening with the health insurance industry, which is the lapse of ACA subsidies. Right. So premiums are going to possibly double for a lot of folks, which is going to be prohibitively expensive for people that are going to have to make the choice between their health insurance and possibly paying their mortgage. Talk me through the impact of that.

[Dr. Natalie Azar]

This is one of those things that just gets me so upset, because remember that the whole philosophy behind something like the Affordable Care act is that we need everybody to have insurance so that we have a constant influx of money from premiums and deductibles from healthy people so that when sick people get sick, they're covered. You can't just have sick people have health insurance. You need to have healthy people have insurance. It's going to be really tough. Depending on what salary bracket you're in, your premiums are either going to go from, you know, $80 up to $200. But for some people, it's going to go from they were paying almost nothing to $2,000 a month, and they just won't be able to afford that.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Yeah, sure.

[Dr. Natalie Azar]

So what are we going to see? We're going to see people who aren't able to participate in any preventive screening. They're not going to be catching conditions early. We're going to be seeing more end stage complications from untreated hypertension, untreated diabetes. And that's going to cost the healthcare system significantly more than the cost of the subsidies would have. We just know that that's going to, there's no way around it. You know, if people don't have health insurance, it's going to be a downward spiral.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

What are we to watch in 2026 when it comes to health care? I mean, you know, I would say if we had a person of the year in the healthcare industry, it would have been the GLP1 drug of 2025. What is the 2026 healthcare?

[Dr. Natalie Azar]

You know, every year we do our new Year show, right, for, for the Today show and it's at the top of the list because it just keeps on making headlines and deservedly so. I mean, they're being studied in literally every disease from neurodegenerative diseases to all our diseases in rheumatology, practically PCOS, you know, you name it. And the GLP1s have approvals beyond reduction of heart disease and weight loss and diabetes. It's, you know, slowing down progression of renal disease, treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. So they're still going to be making the news, especially with the pills. You know, the other good thing is that from the inflation Reduction Act, Medicare is now able to negotiate prices for 10 really common drugs that are used by Medicare recipients, which is great. There's an out of pocket cap. Once they reach their limit of $2,100, they will no longer pay any money for medications that is seniors or people on Medicare. So those are some good things. We're also expecting to see more coverage for additional breast imaging. A lot of times you go to get a mammogram and they say you need an ultrasound or an MRI and that's often not covered. We'll see things like that too.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Dr. Natalie Azar, thank you.

[Dr. Natalie Azar]

You are so welcome.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

We're gonna take a very quick break. When we are back, did you wait until now to start your holiday shopping? Have no fear, we're gonna give you some tips that can save you on your late night run. Stick with us.

[Shaquille Brewster]

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[Brian Chung]

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[Shaquille Brewster]

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[Dr. Natalie Azar]

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[Yasmin Vasugin]

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[Dr. Natalie Azar]

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[Yasmin Vasugin]

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[Dr. Natalie Azar]

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[Yasmin Vasugin]

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[Dr. Natalie Azar]

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[Yasmin Vasugin]

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[Dr. Natalie Azar]

Head to today.com GiftsWeLove and start shopping now. Stay informed with the NBC News app.

[Brian Chung]

Breaking news just coming in moments ago.

[Dr. Natalie Azar]

Watch, read and listen throughout your day. And now unlock even more with a subscription. It's the best of NBC News with fewer ad interruptions, including ad free articles, podcasts and full NBC News shows. Plus deeper access and exclusive content. Let's just take a step back. It's more context and clarity from the reporters you trust. Download the NBC News app now and subscribe for more.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Welcome back to here's the scoop of NBC News. So if you're planning to travel to be with family or friends between now and the new year, there are a few things that are gonna be standing in your way. It's the weather, it's your journey. And if you celebrate Christmas, maybe some presents you still have to wrap or even buy. So we thought we'd bring you a holiday news you can use Roundup from our teams at NBC News. We wanna start with NBC News meteorologist Bill Cairns. What kind of weather are we looking at for the holidays?

[Bill Cairns]

You want the good? There's about half of this country right now that is considering barbecuing on Christmas because the record heat is widespread. It's been pretty wild how much of the country. But then we have the other extremes and we have what's going to happen in the west, which is going to be horrendous.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

What are you predicting is going to happen out west?

[Bill Cairns]

I can see a scenario out west, especially in Southern California, where we have on Christmas Eve and even Christmas Day water rescues taking place. We're going to see another what we call an atmospheric river event, which is just a fancy weather term for a lot of rain. And we're going to see some areas in California getting half of their annual rain on Christmas Eve. And Christmas Day. So you talk about horrific timing. I mean the evacuations that went in place yesterday underneath the Palisades and the Eaton fire, burn scars, you know, so that's at least 400, 500 people that are being told to evacuate their home for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. So it's a pretty serious situation and it's horrific for Southern California. If you remember, we started this year with the horrible fires, you know, one of the worst weather events ever in this country's history. And now we're going to end it with this pretty significant flood event. We're going to mudslides, rock slides, landslides, roads will be closed right on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

We've also seen some massive flooding leading up to Christmas up in Washington State. What's happening there?

[Bill Cairns]

Yes, we had the record flooding from another atmospheric river two weeks ago. This past weekend we saw the atmospheric river, another one into Oregon, Northern California with water rescues. We had one life that was lost in that one. That area is going to get a piece of this storm. They're going to get rain but they're not going to see epic flooding. But it's not going to stop people from getting their destinations and we won't have more destructive weather there.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Walk us through what the east coast is facing right now over the holidays.

[Bill Cairns]

So the east coast is actually going to see some of the best weather out of anyone over the next, I'd say two to three days until we get to Friday. Friday we got a fast moving storm. It's going to bring some snow down from areas from the Great Lakes and somewhere between Philadelphia and Boston, maybe New York City, we're going to get a heavy wet snow event Friday evening. So for anyone that's doing any traveling on that i95 corridor or at the airports Friday evening, that's the target. That storm will be exiting Saturday morning for a decent weekend. But that's really the only travel issue on the East Coast.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Bill Cairns, thank you.

[Bill Cairns]

Great being with you.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

So if you're taking a plane, train or automobile in the next week, you are not alone. NBC News correspondent Shaquille Brewster has more on what that's going to mean for you from Chicago, o' Hare Airport.

[Shaquille Brewster]

Well, it is yet another holiday period where we're talking about potentially record setting holiday travel. Here at Chicago's o' Hare Airport. It was certainly busy this morning. We saw some lines, saw a rush of people. But TSA and the airport certainly signaling that they were ready for this holiday rush. Now across the country we are monitoring some flight Delays out there. As of noon, we saw about 2,000 flights delayed from coast to coast, travelers hoping that number doesn't continue to grow and even exceed the 5,500 or so delays that we saw just yesterday. Of course, many of them tied to weather conditions. AAA is forecasting that across the country you're looking at about 122 million people traveling in some form to their holiday destination. The overwhelming majority of those folks are taking to the road, perhaps taking advantage of the lower gas prices. We know gas is cheaper than it was during Thanksgiving. It's cheaper than it was a year ago, about 20 cents a gallon cheaper than it was around this time last year. So back here at the airport, of course, we hear it every holiday period. Make sure you show up early, give yourself that extra time and make sure you download the app of the airline that you're traveling. That way you're on top of any changes that may come during this holiday period.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Thank you, Shaquille. So last but not least, you don't want to show up empty handed, but if you're still missing a few presents, you're not totally out of luck. I want to bring in NBC News data and business correspondent Brian Chung.

[Dr. Natalie Azar]

Ho, ho Ho.

[Brian Chung]

I come bearing the gifts of numbers. A lot of them.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

A lot of folks procrastinate when it comes to holiday shopping. Where can we turn for last minute gifts? Also that would be here on time if they're getting sent to us.

[Brian Chung]

Are you asking for yourself or is that.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Yeah, I actually this time did not procrastinate. Okay. So I'm asking for others.

[Brian Chung]

Oh, for others. Well, for anyone that's listening and they're crossing off a few things on their list. A lot of stores are gonna be open super late today. In fact, Target Kohl's are gonna be open until midnight. Burlington Coat Factory in some cases is going to open ready for this until 1am wow. So if you wanna do some, if you wanna do some coat shopping at midnight today, you could do that. But look at the end of the day, we're also in a digital age. A lot of people can just sit on their couch. They don't even need to get the car warmed up. Walmart, Amazon, they still have same day shipping options that if you order today, it could arrive tomorrow if you get that one day shipping. So if you're shopping on Amaz for the arrives before Christmas tag when you're searching for things. And at Walmart they have express shipping within a few hours where you can order as late as 5pm tomorrow. On Christmas Eve and still get it in time for Christmas time.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

I will say though, your choices are more limited if you are ordering online to arrive tomorrow. That's right, because I did have to do some last minute online shopping and I was limited as to what I could actually get.

[Brian Chung]

And the other thing too is that when you think about the Walmarts and the Targets that are doing a lot of this expedited shipping just in just a few hours because it's in the store already. So it's almost akin to just driving to the local Target, driving to the local Walmart to just scoop it up. But you're kind of stuck with whatever's available on the shelf, which if there was the hot toy, if it's sold out, unfortunately you might be out of luck here. But nonetheless, you still have plenty of options to get something last minute here.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Is there advantages to doing last minute shopping? And what I mean by that is, are there more sales now than there were maybe a week ago?

[Brian Chung]

Well, the best sales were Black Friday weekend for the most part. But experts that I've spoken to have said specifically with winter items, believe it or not, you're gonna get probably a better deal now. So you know how the early bird gets the worm or whatever. For those that procrastinate, you still might benefit from getting a better discount than even people who bought earlier because some of those winter sweaters, some of the holiday decor, if you would, if you were to gift someone like an ornament or something, they're more deeply discounted now than they were a month ago.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

What are some great last minute gift ideas both for adults and for kids?

[Brian Chung]

Okay, so here's the thing is that you don't even need to necessarily wait for a package to arrive on your doorstep with express shipping or go to the store. You can do a lot of digital gifts. So if you, if you think about grubhub, Uber Eats, Netflix. Right. These are all things that people could probably find a use for. You can do e gift cards and Costco. I know this is a weird one, but you can gift someone a Costco membership.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Yeah.

[Brian Chung]

Which I think is something that a lot of people that they would be.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Like, whoa, how much does a Costco membership cost?

[Brian Chung]

Well, it depends on whether or not you're getting the executive or not. But you know, it's, it's over 100 bucks or so. It depends on what tier you're looking at. And then experiences, I think experiences are just generally a really nice gift. Anyway. You can get something for a parent, a Loved one, a sibling. You get like a Airbnb booking. Spa Finder is a site where you can get an E gift card and book a session there. And then there's a website called Giftery where you can find cooking classes, tennis lessons, golf lessons. I need all three of them. And you can get a credit that you can book for a later time, too.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

So while I have you, can we talk about economics for a moment? Because we're talking about, obviously, spending coming off of a major period of spending in our economy. We got a GDP report, the economy growing at a rate of 4.3% in the third quarter of this year. What do you make of that?

[Bill Cairns]

Yeah.

[Brian Chung]

And I feel like we just need to unpack exactly what that even means. So GDP means gross domestic product. It's essentially a measure of how much the economy grew or contracted in any period of time. And 4.3% was the rate that the economy grew at in the June to September period of this year. It's a little bit wonky. It's not that the economy grew by 4.3%, but at that pace for a full year, the economy will grow by 4.3%. Now, that is well above what economists had thought they were expecting it to be somewhere in, like, the 3% range. So it kind of knocked it out of the park. I think the bigger part of this was that there was an increase in consumption. I mean, you talk about the American economy, a majority of it is driven by you and me doing shopping. That is consumption. Now, obviously, we're talking about the late summer. So that figure, that 4.3% figure, doesn't include Christmas shopping. But if it is indeed the case that the American consumer felt good and was spending well in the summer of this year, maybe that bodes well for Q4 as well, when we get the numbers on holiday spending, with some estimates saying, yes, that over a trillion dollars was spent this holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation, because people are.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Buying more in quantity or because things are more expensive?

[Brian Chung]

It's a combination of both.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Brian Chung, happy Holidays.

[Brian Chung]

Happy holidays.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Thank you. All right, let's get to some headlines. The Department of Justice released 30,000 more pages of documents related to its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, including some that mention President Trump. Our chief Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Nobles has more.

[Hoda Kotb]

President Trump's name is all over the release today, and the Department of Justice says we shouldn't read that much into it. A lot of it is without corroboration or context. But there are accusations, for instance, that President Trump spent more time on Jeffrey Epstein's plane than previously reported. There are also some other claims made about his interactions with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell that we'd never heard before. The White House says we shouldn't look much into it. The Department of Justice says it's uncorroborated, but it's an example of the type of information that's coming out in today's release.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Some lawmakers and survivors have expressed concern that the DOJ has fallen short of releasing all of its Epstein records as required by law and redacted too heavily. Ukrainian officials say the country was hit with a massive wave of Russian attacks overnight that killed at least four and injured dozens more. Some 600 drones and 38 missiles triggered air raid sirens, nationwide blackouts and prompted Poland to scramble for fighter jets. Officials from the United States, Ukraine, Russia and Europe have been meeting to try to hammer out a peace deal with no agreement so far. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Russia may launch, quote, massive strikes on Christmas. President Trump has been putting his name on things more frequently in his second term. On Monday, the administration unveiled a new Trump class of battleships at an event in Mar? A Lago, saying they'll be part of a, quote, unquote, golden fleet. They say these ships will have nuclear capabilities and they'll be armed with hypersonic weapons, electronic railguns and high powered lasers. Whether this Trump class will come to fruition is a point of debate, however. Many of the Navy's existing projects are delayed and the US Shipbuilding industry is in a perpetual state of triage, according to the Government Accountability Office. One of the president's other renaming efforts is facing legal challenges. House Democrat Joyce Beatty of Ohio is suing the administration for adding President Trump's name to the John F. Kennedy center for the Performing Arts. Congresswoman Beatty sits on the Kennedy Center's board. She argues that renaming the center would require an actual Congress. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. And Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn has officially qualified for the 2026 Milan Cortina winter Olympics. It is a stunning comeback for the 41 year old, who was forced to retire in 2019 because of chronic arthritis in her right knee. Vaughn made a return to the circuit thanks in large part to a customized robot assisted knee replacement surgery that involved removing parts of her knee bone and inserting a plastic meniscus in titanium pieces. Earlier this season, she became the oldest alpine skier in history to win a CUP event. Cortina d', Ampezzo, the site of Vaughan's fifth and final Olympic Games holds special significance for her. It is where she made her first podium way back in 2004, and she has described the course as, quote, feeling like home. All right, that is gonna do it for us on this episode of here's the Scoop from NBC News. I'm Yasmin Vasugin. And before we go, we are kicking off a series of special episodes at here's the Scoop. Starting tomorrow, Christmas Eve, I'm gonna sit down with the legendary radio host Delilah, the most listened to woman in the history of American radio. If you're not familiar with her call in radio show, do not worry. She's gonna share stories about how she built her business and how she's helped millions navigate love and loss, including herself. I am so excited to share that conversation with you. So be sure to tune in tomorrow. We'll see you then.

[Meet the Press Promo Announcer]

This week on MEET THE press, just after President Trump's primetime address to the nation and as tensions mount with Venezuela and warning signs over the economy grow, Kristen Welker sits down with Senators Lindsey Grabb and Tim K. This week on Meet the Press. Listen to the full episode now. Wherever you get your podcasts.