The GOP holds on in the Volunteer State; A Lawsuit That’s Anything But Sugarcoated

Summary

Podcast Summary: Here’s the Scoop – “The GOP holds on in the Volunteer State; A Lawsuit That’s Anything But Sugarcoated”

Date: December 3, 2025
Host: Ryan Nobles (filling in for Yasmin Vossoughian)
Podcast: Here’s the Scoop, NBC News

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Brief Overview

This episode spotlights two major stories:

1. A closely-watched special congressional election in Tennessee’s 7th District — a bellwether for national party dynamics heading into the 2026 midterms.
2. San Francisco’s unprecedented lawsuit against major food companies, alleging that ultra-processed food marketed by these giants has caused a public health crisis.

Also covered: immigration enforcement in New Orleans, updates from NATO, the reopening of Camp Mystic after a tragic flood, and a look at Spotify Wrapped 2025.

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1. Tennessee’s 7th Congressional Election: GOP Narrowly Hangs On

[00:47 – 10:06]

Key Discussion Points

• The Contest

  • Republican Matt Van Epps (Army vet, former state official) vs. Democrat Afton Bain (state representative).
  • Race attracted national attention and heavy spending from both parties due to unexpectedly tight polling.
  • Van Epps’ victory margin was low, despite Trump’s 2024 landslide in the district.

• Central Campaign Issues

  • Democratic Focus: Cost of living, inflation, affordability.
    • "She would immediately try to pivot right back to the cost of living and to inflation."
      – Steve Kornacki (02:37)
  • GOP Theme: Attack Bain’s prior statements/positions (e.g., on policing), casting her as out of step with local values.
    • “It was about turning the race into a referendum on her and the Democratic Party in a district where the Democratic Party doesn't typically do well.”
      – Steve Kornacki (03:07)

• Results Analysis

  • Bain dominated in Davidson County (Nashville), but failed to gain traction in suburbs and swing county (Clarksville).
    • “If she had [done better in swing areas], we might be talking about a race this morning that had been a real squeaker.”
      – Steve Kornacki (03:35)

• Trump’s Influence

  • Trump endorsed Van Epps and hosted a “telerally,” credited by Van Epps during his victory speech.
    • "President Trump was all in with us and it made the difference..."
      – Matt Van Epps, quoted by Steve Kornacki (01:39)
  • Kornacki notes that while Trump motivates infrequent voters in presidential years, his “political currency” is less effective in off-cycles.
    • “If he's not there, even if he gives his full throated endorsement...that's not a guarantee that his political currency will translate.”
      – Ryan Nobles (05:49)
    • “They haven't found a good answer for that yet.”
      – Steve Kornacki (06:25)

• Redistricting’s Impact

  • 2022 gerrymander split Nashville into multiple districts, making each less Republican but more competitive as the political climate shifted.
    • “What it had the effect of doing is...suddenly they're playing defense all over the place...”
      – Steve Kornacki (08:19)
  • This may backfire for both parties as demographics and political winds change.
    • “That bill is probably going to come due for them at some point, too.”
      – Steve Kornacki (09:55)

Memorable Quotes

• “It was a Democratic overperformance...at the same time, I think it was a Democratic underperformance in that they could have done better here.”
  – Steve Kornacki (03:37)

• “There seems to be this trend line...if Donald Trump's on the ballot, Republican voters are motivated to come out and cast a ballot. But if he’s not there...that's not a guarantee that his political currency will translate.”
  – Ryan Nobles (05:49)

• “The thing that happens with these gerrymanders...the climate changes a few years later and suddenly they're playing defense all over the place and they end up losing some of them.”
  – Steve Kornacki (09:09)

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2. San Francisco vs. Big Food: “A Lawsuit That’s Anything But Sugarcoated”

[11:51 – 20:14]

Key Discussion Points

• The Lawsuit

  • San Francisco sues 10 major food companies (Kraft Heinz, Coca Cola, PepsiCo, Nestle, etc.).
  • Allegation: Marketing ultra-processed foods that are addictive and known to harm health, creating a “public health crisis.”
  • No immediate comment from the companies.

• Medical Perspective

  • Dr. Kavita Patel summarizes health risks of ultra-processed foods:
    • “Increased rates of cancer, higher rates of obesity, higher rates of diabetes...linkages to neurodegeneration.”
    • “[Check] the back of the ingredient list. If it looks like a lot of words...it is highly likely it’s ultra processed.”
      (12:43)

• Legal Analysis with Danny Savalos

  • First-of-its-kind suit from a city, but an evolution from earlier tobacco and opioid lawsuits.

    • “For probably decades now we've been seeing the growth of these, I think of them as vice lawsuits.”
      (13:47)

  • Challenges: Individual choice, causation. Companies likely to argue consumers are informed and responsible for their choices.

    • “We put the ingredients on the back of all of our packaging...it’s right there in black and white.”
      (15:18)
    • “Is it foreseeable to hold us responsible...for somebody getting something like type 2 diabetes...?”
      (15:18)

  • What is San Francisco seeking?

    • Compensation for citywide health care costs, not direct payouts to individuals.
    • City wants “costs and fees and the harm that the city has suffered,” not a direct cash settlement for residents.
      (17:32)

  • Broader Implications

    • Lawsuit looks for industry change, not just cash (“injunctive relief”).
    • Uniqueness: “Food is something we all need” — harder to regulate than tobacco/opioids.
    • “How will they do that? Do they change their packaging? Will that resolve it? Do they make the warning labels larger? What do you do to remedy this?”
      (18:51)

Memorable Quotes

• “Thirty years ago, if you had asked lawyers, were these kinds of lawsuits viable, where you're essentially holding large companies responsible for people's own independent choices... But yes, this is a first in the sense that you have a city government suing all of these companies.”
  – Danny Savalos (13:47)

• “How can you blame us for someone's diabetes when they have been predisposed to have diabetes? How can you blame us for something like that?”
  – Danny Savalos (16:35)

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3. Headlines Round-Up

[20:19 – 24:29]

Key Stories

• Immigration Crackdown in New Orleans

  • Border Patrol and DHS launch operations targeting criminals; context against backdrop of Trump administration’s revived immigration enforcement.
  • Despite official data showing New Orleans is on track for its safest year since the 1970s.
    • “Murders have dropped from 266 in 2022 to just 97 as of early November.”
      – Ryan Nobles (20:38)

• NATO and Ukraine

  • U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio skipped the NATO foreign ministers meeting; European leaders frustrated at lack of voice in peace talks with Moscow.
  • Russia reportedly open to “some American territorial proposals” on Ukraine, but other points remain rejected.

• Camp Mystic Reopening After Tragedy

  • Camp Mystic (TX) to reopening after a deadly flood killed 27 earlier this year.
  • New safety measures: flood sensors, weather radios, satellite internet, improved generators.
  • Families of victims have sued the camp for gross negligence.
    • “...they intend to demonstrate and prove that this sudden surge of floodwaters far exceeded any previous flood in the area by several magnitudes...”
      (Camp’s lawyer statement, 22:51)

• Spotify Wrapped 2025

  • Feature reveals users’ top songs and a “musical age” metric.
  • Bad Bunny remains the top global artist and album; K-pop “Demon Hunter” soundtrack is runner-up.

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Notable Moments & Quotes

• Steve Kornacki on shifting climates:
  “The story in Tennessee...is the perfect illustration of the risk parties take when they do aggressive gerrymandering, both parties." (08:19)

• Ryan Nobles wraps Spotify’s annual review:
  “Your musical year in review arrived today and exposed any songs you had on loop all year.” (23:18)

• Light Humor:
  “As the father of four, no surprises there for me and a bit of a confession. I'm not a Spotify guy, never have been.”
  – Ryan Nobles (24:02)

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Timestamps of Important Segments

• 00:47 – 10:06: Tennessee election discussion with Steve Kornacki
• 11:51 – 20:14: San Francisco lawsuit analysis (including Dr. Patel and Danny Savalos)
• 20:19 – 24:02: Headlines (Immigration, NATO-Ukraine, Camp Mystic)
• 23:18 – 24:29: Spotify Wrapped 2025

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Tone & Language

The conversation is brisk, insightful, and rooted in accessible explanations. The episode balances hard news with conversational analysis, making sense of complex topics for a general audience. Occasional humor and personal asides keep the pace lively without trivializing the topics.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This is a timely, well-calibrated look at both the political fault lines in Middle America and the evolving legal landscape around food and health. The takeaways? Suburban and swing voters are volatile, gerrymandering’s shelf-life is always limited, and the food on Americans’ plates could be the next battleground—for courts and for public health.

archives or subscribe for more “quick, clear, and insightful” recaps on issues shaping the world and your dinner-table conversation.

Transcript

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[Ryan Nobles]

Hey, everybody. Welcome to here's the SCOOP from NBC News. I'm Ryan Nobles filling in as host. Today, my next big challenge after serving my time as the scoop's chief shutdown correspondent. We have a packed show for you today. San Francisco is suing 10 major food companies in a first of its kind lawsuit, alleging they sold ultra processed foods that led to a public health crisis in the city and across the nation. We'll tell you all about it. Plus, federal agents are in New Orleans continuing the administration's immigration crackdown. And what's your listening age? That's right. Spotify's annual wrapped feature is out and users are comparing what their top songs of the year say about their age. Up first, though, Republican Matt Van Epps has won a very tight, very contested special election in Tennessee's 7th congressional district, tipping his hat to the president in his victory speech.

[Steve Kornacki]

President Trump was all in with us and it made the difference in Congress. I'll be all in with him.

[Ryan Nobles]

This was a closely watched contest with both Republican and Democratic super PACs pouring money into the race. And it was tight. Van Epps beat out his Democratic opponent, State Representative Afton Bain, by single digits, even though President Trump won the same district by 22 points back in 2024. For more on this race and what it tells us about the national state of play, I'm going to bring in who else but Steve Kornacki, our chief data analyst? Hey, Steve.

[Steve Kornacki]

Ryan, how you doing?

[Ryan Nobles]

I know you had a long night, so I appreciate you being here.

[Steve Kornacki]

We've had longer.

[Ryan Nobles]

Yes, no doubt about that. But let's just bring all of our non Tennessean listeners up to speed on this race because it absolutely got national attention. You've got Republican here, Matt Van Epps. He's an Army Veteran former state official up against Afton Bain, a state representative. What were some of the big key issues that both Afton Bain and Matt Van Epps were talking about in this race?

[Steve Kornacki]

Well, I think you heard that word we're hearing all over the place right now about affordability, about the cost of living, about inflation. That is what Bain and the Democrats tried to pivot the conversation to. She has, in the not so distant past, staked out some very kind of provocative positions. Things like defunding the police things. Questions would come up. She would immediately try to pivot right back to the cost of living and to inflation.

[Ryan Nobles]

So Bain was pretty heavily focused on affordability. How did Vaneps counter that?

[Steve Kornacki]

I mean, honestly, especially in the last week of this campaign, the Vaneps effort was about Afton Bain herself. And it was about all of these past statements. It was about all of the sort of provocative rhetoric that she had put out there. It was about connecting her to sort of the parts of the national Democratic Party that I don't think are popular in a district like Tennessee 7. So it was about sort of trying to turn the race into. Into a referendum on her and the Democratic Party in a district where the Democratic Party doesn't typically do well.

[Ryan Nobles]

What did this campaign look like?

[Steve Kornacki]

Yeah, I mean, look, it was watched nationally because I think what everybody's trying to figure out is what is the climate heading into the midterm election next year with Democrats trying to get back control of the House, Republicans trying to protect their majority. We've had a lot of indications this fall that the climate is turning against President Trump and the Republicans. So this was, I think, a good way to measure that. And I think the way I'm looking at this result is it's simultaneously a Democratic over performance. It's a pretty big improvement for Democrats. It's an improvement we've seen for them in other special elections this year that they have been very optimistic about. At the same time, I think it was a Democratic underperformance in that they could have done better here. They chose to nominate a candidate, Afton Bain, in this race, who may not have been a good match, sort of ideologically and culturally in this district. And so what she ended up doing was really running up the score in the one core Democratic area of the district, which was basically the city of Nashville. But she didn't get the kind of traction Democrats were hoping for in the suburbs and in the swing parts of the district. If she had, we might be talking about a race this morning that had been a real Squeaker. Or that the Democrats had even won.

[Ryan Nobles]

Well, and it was amazing, looking at the breakdown of the cross tabs this morning, of the difference between that Nashville centered county versus basically the rest of the district. Right. I mean, we were talking beyond double digit margins, depending on the Republican or Democrat, depending on which part of the district you were talking about.

[Steve Kornacki]

Yeah. So this is the Democratic county we're talking about Davidson County. Again, it's about a quarter of the city of Nashville is in the district and you're looking at all the counties. If you're looking at the map, you're so used to red and blue.

[Trailer Narrator]

Right.

[Steve Kornacki]

And the one blue county in any election in that district is gonna be Davidson County. So again, you know, Bain did get big turnout there, did run up a score. There was one other county in the district though that could have been blue last night. I think it's the closest thing to a swing county in the district. And it's where the city of Clarksville is, about 150,000 people. Fort Campbell is there. Austin Peay State University, right on the Kent line. And that is one. It was sort of my gauge going into last night if the Democrats were actually gonna win the race. And really they didn't. They lost where Clarksville is by eight points.

[Ryan Nobles]

So let's talk about the President Trump of it all. Vanepce thanked President Trump in his victory speech last night we saw President Trump and Speaker Johnson make a last ditch effort to turn out the vote. In the 11th hour, Trump held a telerally for Van Epps. There seems to be this trend line that's happening with these elections where if Donald Trump's on the ballot, Republican voters are motivated to come out and cast a ballot. But if he's not there, even if he gives his full throated endorsement to the candidate, that's not a guarantee that his political currency will translate. Is that something that Republicans need to be concerned about heading into the midterms?

[Steve Kornacki]

They need to be. They are. And they don't have a great answer for it strategically right now. Because part of the problem is when you look at how Trump won the election last year in 2024, he did very well with what they call infrequent vot voters. You know, folks who are once every four years, they pay attention to the presidential race, they decide which candidate they want and they do not vote. And they don't follow politics much outside of that. Trump with those voters last year did very well. That's why he was able to win the popular vote. So Republicans are looking at that. And they're saying, how can we get those voters interested in politics? How could we get them to connect that they liked Trump last year with wanting Republicans to win all of these other races in 2025 and 2026. They haven't found a good answer for that yet. The one thing I think that they hope to take from last is that they did find a very ripe target in Afton Bain, the Democratic candidate, for the reasons we're saying. They really turned the spotlight on Afton Bain, on all of those past pronouncements, positions she had taken. And they really were able to get sort of marginal Republican voters who maybe aren't nuts about Trump right now. Those voters got pause before they voted Democratic, and they said, yeah, I'm not voting for this Democrat. I may not be thrilled with Trump, but this Democratic Party, this Democratic candidate, not for me. And I think the thing that they would take from this is they hope next year, if Trump's not on the ballot, to motivate voters, they think they can make the Democratic Party something they can motivate voters to vote against.

[Ryan Nobles]

And then the last thing I want to touch on, Steve, is the impact that redistricting is going to have on all of this. We could have seen redistricting play at least a small role in what we saw last night. Tennessee redrew its congressional districts in 2022, and that broke up the city of Nashville. Now we see Republicans making an effort to change the districts in Florida, in Texas, perhaps Indiana. Democrats responding by doing the same thing in California, Virginia states. How big of a role is redistricting going to play in these upcoming midterms?

[Steve Kornacki]

I think last night is the perfect illustration of the risk parties take when they do aggressive gerrymandering, both parties. The story in Tennessee with this district was in 2022, when the state did its, you know, once every 10 years redraw. In Tennessee, the Republicans did what you said. They broke up the city of Nashville. It used to be Nashville, 700,000 people. It's almost the size of a congressional district. It was, for a long time, a Nashville congressional district. The entire city was in it. It was a Democratic district. Republicans in 2022 broke it into three parts, and they sent Nashville into three separate districts, all Republican districts. And what it had the effect of doing is it took those three Republican districts, and by absorbing part of Nashville, they each became less Republican, but still Republican. So the Republicans were able to win those districts in 2022. They were able to win them in 2024, when Trump won the state. So eas now in 2025, 2026, with the political climate turning on Trump and the Republicans, we just saw one of those districts, Tennessee 7, that was gerrymandered suddenly became competitive and Republicans had to sweat. They didn't lose it, but they had to spend a lot of money. They had to put a lot of effort into it. And that's the thing that happens with these gerrymanders. They're drawn in one political climate. When a party thinks, ah, we're gonna be safe with all of these seats, the climate changes a few years later and suddenly they're playing defense all over the place and they end up losing some of them. So I think that's the risk Republicans are facing very real time in 2026 in the States where they're doing this mid decade redistricting. And it is for Democrats too. In a state like California, it may not be in 2026, but that bill is probably going to come due for them at some point too.

[Ryan Nobles]

Yeah, right. There's only so many voters and only so many districts you can pack them into. And at some point the gerrymandering is going to kind of come around the other side of the sphere. As always, Steve, terrific insight. Thank you so much for being here. We appreciate it.

[Steve Kornacki]

Thanks, Ryan. Thanks.

[Ryan Nobles]

We're going to take a quick break, but when we come back, the US City suing over ultra processed foods. That's next.

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[Ryan Nobles]

Welcome back to here's the scoop from NBC News. It's an unprecedented lawsuit out of California. The city of San Francisco is suing 10 major food companies that make ultra processed food, arguing they marketed and sold foods they knew were harmful to human health and designed to be addictive. The 10 defendants make some of the most popular items in the country, including Kraft, Heinz Company, the Coca Cola Company, PepsiCo and Nestle USA. NBC News asked each company for comment, but so far none responded immediately to the requests. With all of this bipartisan scrutiny of ultra processed diets, from progressives in California to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. We've asked for a reality check from our NBC News Medical Contributor, Dr. Kavita Patel on the concerns of putting these brightly colored and specially flavored treats that I'll admit are sometimes hard to resist.

[Commercial Announcer]

Typical examples of foods that are ultra processed are sugary soft drinks, many breakfast cereals, packaged cookies and also processed meats such as hot dogs and even many frozen entrees. The downstream health effects are increased rates of cancer, higher rates of obesity, higher rates of diabetes. There's also been studies that have shown linkages to neurodegeneration or to potential linkages to dementia and other brain diseases as we age. So look at the back of the ingredient list. If it looks like a lot of words and extra enhanced ingredients that you don't recognize, it is highly likely it's ultra processed.

[Ryan Nobles]

The lawsuit argues these foods have contributed to a public health crisis in San Francisco and throughout the country. But just like my cousin Vinnie asks, does the defense's case hold water? Joining me now is NBC News legal analyst Danny Savalos. Danny, welcome.

[Danny Savalos]

Thanks for having me, Danny.

[Ryan Nobles]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this does feel like a first of its kind lawsuit to try and hold these food manufacturers accountable. Walk us through the suit.

[Danny Savalos]

It is a first of its kind lawsuit, but in a way, Ryan, it's not because for probably decades now we've been seeing the growth of these, I think of them as vice lawsuits. You could say it started with the tobacco lawsuits. Not too long ago, they went after the pharmacist pharmaceutical companies for opiates. And now you see these lawsuits against sort of junk food companies and there's already been one based on private plaintiffs that was tossed in federal court in Pennsylvania. That is likely temporary. That wasn't tossed forever. For the last few decades, we've seen a growth of these kinds of lawsuits. And I would say 30 years ago, if you had asked lawyers, were these kinds of lawsuits viable, where you're essentially holding large companies responsible for people's own independent choices, their independ choice to smoke and here their independent choice to take a bag of cheesy poofs, knowing that it might not be good for them and consuming it anyway. But yes, this is a first in the sense that you have a city government suing all of these companies, alleging that false advertising, unfair competition, and even a theory of what we call public nuisance. This is a very strategic lawsuit taking advantage of California law to try and take down these companies, these food companies, for what they say is false advertising and deceptive advertising.

[Ryan Nobles]

How will these 10 companies defend themselves? Will they say these were individuals that knew what they were doing and they should be held responsible for their own actions?

[Danny Savalos]

That's one avenue of defense. Right? So you may see these food companies making that defense out that look, these are independent choices. We put the ingredients on the back of all of our packaging. We're required to do so. If you think xanthan gum is something that isn't good for you, then don't eat it. It's right there in black and white. The other thing they might argue is something like causation. Is their product truly the cause? Not only what we call the but for the actual cause. But is it foreseeable to hold us responsible, the food companies, for somebody getting something like type 2 diabetes or a fatty liver from eating junk food? Is it foreseeable? Did we actually cause the harm? And if we did, is it foreseeable that we should have known it would cause this harm?

[Ryan Nobles]

Yeah. And that does seem to be the approach that the city of San Francisco is taking, right? Hold these food companies accountable. They're arguing that the cities had to bear the brunt of the medical costs associated with the consequences of these diets of high processed foods. Is that a successful argument that particularly a city can make, as you mentioned, that that's part of what makes this case novel. And how do you prove that? How do you get from point A to point B that this creation of this food led to these consequences?

[Danny Savalos]

I'm so glad you brought that up because that's what makes this lawsuit unique in my is not representing a bunch of people who have been harmed I mean, you could say, in a sense, they are, symbolically. But they're alleging that they have had to lay out all kinds of funds to pay for this growing healthcare crisis. So right away, if I'm putting my defense hat on, one of the things that might come up is causation. How the defendants might argue, hey, how can you say that we directly caused you to have to pay for increasing healthcare costs? Isn't individual choice a factor? Aren't there other factors? How can you blame us for someone's diabetes when they have been predisposed to have diabetes? How can you blame us for something like that?

[Ryan Nobles]

Let's talk about what San Francisco's hoping to get out of this. Are they looking for a big cash settlement? Do they want them to change their ways? What are they asking for in terms of compensation for the damages they say have been incurred as a result of this?

[Danny Savalos]

Yeah, in reviewing the complaint that they filed, at the end of every complaint, there's what we call the ad damnum clause. It's where you put out what exactly you're looking for. Usually don't put a dollar amount. And what's interesting here is that they're directly alleging, hey, we need a bunch of money to distribute to our citizens to help pay for their health care costs. Instead, what it appears they're looking for is sort of costs and fees and the harm that the city has suffered. What I notice is that this is not a complaint that is directly on behalf of the citizens. It is the city bringing the case, not the individual plaintiffs. So it's the city looking to get. To get compensated for the money it has had to spend and whether that ever reaches the citizens directly. Likely not, since they don't appear to be parties themselves.

[Ryan Nobles]

And the other part of this that I think is interesting and could be an outgrowth of this is you use the example of the tobacco companies. You use the example of the opioid lawsuits that led to significant change in not only customer habits, but the way that these companies conduct business. Could we see these businesses change their ways as a result of the threat of these lawsuits or the potential for government action and the changing of laws? Could they get ahead of it, for instance, and say, okay, we'll stop using some of these products in our foods?

[Danny Savalos]

One of the things that the plaintiffs are asking for is essentially injunctive relief, not just money damages, but force these companies to stop doing the bad things we say that they're doing. Now, of course, the companies, in settling the case, in asking or offering a settlement, could certainly offer that. I mean, that's what you saw in the pharmaceutical, the opioid litigation. It wasn't just about dollars. It was about what are we going to do to change things going forward. But what I think makes this lawsuit particularly tricky is that, yes, you can draw analogies to tobacco or opiates, but tobacco and opiates are not something that people need. Those are choices. You could say they are vices. Maybe not with opiates because people are prescribed opiates, but certainly tobacco is a form of vice. And even the lawsuits against, you know, pure sugary foods, junk food. But food is something we all need. Some of these items that they're alleging are things that have become sadly part of our daily diet, including myself. And so, you know, for the people who need to eat every day, which is all of us, we all need food. It's an interesting choice for these companies if they want to try and I guess you say make legal amends. How will they do that? Do they change their packaging? Will that resolve it? Do they make the warning labels larger? What do you do to remedy this? Because. Because in a way, these are similar to tobacco and opiate lawsuits. In a way, they're very different.

[Ryan Nobles]

Danny Savalas, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

[Danny Savalos]

Thanks for having me.

[Ryan Nobles]

All right, let's get to some headlines. Border Patrol agents are deploying to New Orleans a day after President Trump said he'd be sending the National Guard to Louisiana. The Department of Homeland Security said the New Orleans operation targets criminals who are in the country illegally and remain free because of sanctuary policies.

[Steve Kornacki]

Policies.

[Ryan Nobles]

These policies prevent local police from holding people for ice when requested. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that those targeted in New Orleans included people released after being arrested for home invasion, armed robbery, grand theft auto and rape. But here's the twist. New Orleans police data shows the city is actually on track for its safest year since the 1970s. Murders have dropped from 266 in 2022 to just 97 as of early November. A senior law enforcement official told NBC News that the Trump administration also began immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis.

NATO foreign ministers met in Brussels today after inconclusive Ukraine peace talks in Moscow, with European officials frustrated at being sidelined from negotiations over their own security. Secretary of State Marco Rubios asked absence the first time in 22 years America's top diplomat skip such a gathering raised concerns, though NATO chief Mark Rudy said that Rubio remained very involved. Moscow called the five hour Tuesday meeting with US Special envoy Steve Wyckoff and Trump's son in law, Jared Kushner, useful saying some American territorial proposals on Ukraine looked acceptable to Putin, though he rejected other points.

Camp mystic is preparing to reopen next summer, months after a catastrophic July flood claimed the lives of 27 campers and counselors at the all girl Texas camp. Operations will shift to its Cypress Lake site, a location entirely separate from the Guadalupe river campus that was destroyed in the flooding. The camp says that it's installed more than 100 flood monitoring sensors along the lake and river that can communicate with each other to give early warnings and and help everyone evacuate quickly. And with camp set to begin May 30, 2026, they're also rolling out weather radios in every cabin, backup satellite Internet and beefed up generators to ensure that power doesn't fail. Meanwhile, the families of 13 girls and two counselors who died when catastrophic floodwaters swept through Camp mystic this summer have filed suit against the Texas camp and its owners, alleging gross negligence. In a statement to NBC Dallas Fort Worth, a lawyer for the camp said that the magnitude of the flooding was unexpected, adding, quote, they intend to demonstrate and prove that this sudden surge of floodwaters far exceeded any previous flood in the area by several magnitudes and that no adequate warning systems existed in the area.

In news for Spotify users and Spotify users only, Spotify Wrapped is officially here. Your musical Year in Review arrived today and exposed any songs you had on loop all year. This year's Spotify Wrapped included some new facts and figures, including your musical age. Spotify's top global artist of 2025 was Bad Bunny.

He also had the top global album album of 2025. A close second was the K Pop Demon Hunter soundtrack.

As the father of four, no surprises there for me and a bit of a confession. I'm not a Spotify guy, never have been. But if I did have a Spotify rap, I know a certain Matthew Wilder song would have been at the top of my charts.

Enjoy that earworm for the rest of the evening. You're welcome.

And with that, we're out of here. Thanks for listening to here's the scoop from NBC News. I'm Ryan Nobles and if you like what you've heard, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

[Keith Morrison]

Where was she? The disappearance of Carrie Farmer was quite unlike any other. Beyond diabolical, beyond the macabre. A story straight out of left field. I'm Keith Morrison and this is Something About Carrie, an all new podcast from Dateline.

[Ryan Nobles]

Listen for free each week or unlock new episodes early and enjoy ad free.

[Keith Morrison]

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