The Politics of Hunger; A Forgotten War

Summary

Podcast Summary: Here’s the Scoop – “The Politics of Hunger; A Forgotten War”

Host: Yasmin Vossoughian (NBC News)
Date: November 7, 2025
Duration (content): [00:52]–[19:53]

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Episode Overview

In this episode of "Here’s the Scoop," host Yasmin Vossoughian explores two urgent, underreported global issues: the political fight over hunger in America, specifically the impact of the ongoing government shutdown on SNAP recipients, and the devastating but overlooked civil war in Sudan. Yasmin is joined by NBC News journalists Shannon Petty Peace and Keir Simmons, who provide ground-level insights from their reporting. The episode also features quick coverage of trending news, including Elon Musk's historic pay package, Supreme Court deliberations on same-sex marriage, and lighter pop culture headlines.

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Major Discussion Points & Insights

1. The U.S. Government Shutdown and the Politics of Hunger

Segment Start: [01:18]

Key themes:

• The U.S. government shutdown has reached 38 days, affecting millions.
• Democrats and Republicans are locked in a standoff over funding, stalling crucial programs, especially SNAP (food assistance).
• Multiple critical agencies (FAA, TSA) are also impacted, resulting in widespread disruption.

Impact on SNAP:

• SNAP Benefits Frozen: The Trump administration has refused to comply with a judge’s order to fully fund the benefit, leaving 42 million Americans—mostly mothers, children, the disabled, and the elderly—facing food insecurity.
• Who Is Affected: Most highlighted victims are single mothers, disabled women, and working poor families struggling to feed children.
• Desperation Rising: Recipients are resorting to extreme measures, such as rationing food, asking children to skip snacks, collecting Halloween candy to stretch meals, and considering selling blood for cash.

Notable Reporting:

• Food Bank Strain: Nonprofits and local food banks are overwhelmed and unable to substitute for lost government support.
• Personal Story: Kayla Green, a single mother in upstate New York, is at imminent risk of eviction, forced to choose between keeping her home and feeding her children.
• Policy Confusion: Ongoing legal battles leave recipients and advocates uncertain about when and if funding will resume.

Notable Quotes:

• “She was in a phase of rationing everything she could, rationing meat, telling them there were no more after school snacks, thinking about if she could send them over to a friend's house for dinner to supplement their meals during the week.”
  —Shannon Petty Peace, [05:20]

• “[A] mother yesterday…still hasn’t gotten her SNAP benefits and she has to figure out how to feed her kids over the weekend... she was even thinking about how her Halloween candy... she could use to supplement her kids’ meals and snacks.”
  —Shannon Petty Peace, [05:52]

• “Some [recipients] have brought it up that they just feel forgotten again and a feeling of I'm on my own and again, especially some, even with disabilities, against all the other obstacles and hurdles that they're up against.”
  —Shannon Petty Peace, [09:11]

Resolution Update ([09:46])

• SNAP Funding to Resume: The USDA notified states it would immediately resume full SNAP funding, pending appeal—a relief for millions, but with temporary uncertainty.

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2. Sudan’s Forgotten Civil War: Catastrophe and Ceasefire

Segment Start: [11:37]

Background and Stakes:

• War ongoing since April 2023, driven by two factions: the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
• Catastrophic humanitarian impact: 14+ million displaced, 40,000+ killed (estimates suspected to be undercounted).
• New attention after atrocities and siege in Darfur’s capital, Al Fasha, with evidence of genocide emerging.

Current Developments:

• The RSF has accepted a U.S.-brokered ceasefire proposal, ostensibly to address humanitarian needs.
• Skepticism remains, as the United Nations warns of further escalation and reports of ongoing massacres.

Regional Dynamics:

• War is fueled by external actors; UAE accused of arming the RSF (which it denies).
• Control over gold and other resources is a key factor in the ongoing conflict, complicating peace efforts.

Notable Quotes:

• “Well, it's really a war between two warlords, a civil war inside Sudan… for power, for territory… also a war for resources. Sudan is rich in resources like gold. And it is a tribal war…”
  —Keir Simmons, [12:38]

• “There are reports of massacres taking place. Another thing that's happened is it does appear that a commander in the RSF... were posting images on social media of them carrying out atrocities, killings.”
  —Keir Simmons, [14:22]

• “This war has been supported, fueled, critics say, by multiple countries outside countries... The reality [is] there are multiple countries in the region that see their interests as potentially supporting one side or the other…it makes it very difficult to get to a resolution.”
  —Keir Simmons, [15:44]

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3. Brief Headline Roundup

Segment Start: [16:49]

• Tesla’s $1 Trillion Pay Plan for Elon Musk:
  • Conditions include a seven-year CEO tenure, a million robots, and robo-taxis.
  • Oslo’s sovereign wealth fund opposed the potential dilution but shareholders overwhelmingly support Musk.
• Supreme Court on Same-Sex Marriage:
  • Behind closed doors, justices discuss whether to revisit Obergefell v. Hodges (2015).
  • Kim Davis's case could serve as the vehicle for a new precedent challenge.
• Pop & Culture:
  • Hilary Duff returns to music.
  • Rockefeller Center’s Christmas tree arrives in NYC.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• “That sucks.” —Keir Simmons, on the ripple effect of airport disruptions during the shutdown [02:11]
• “One of my colleagues was at a food bank in Mississippi and she heard from a couple of people who were considering [donating blood]... a means and a way to get food.”
  —Shannon Petty Peace, [06:49]
• “The United States has accused [the RSF] of carrying out another genocide. And it's really escalated and got people's attention now because of a siege... of the capital of Darfur.”
  —Keir Simmons, [13:20]

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Key Timestamps of Important Segments

• Government Shutdown & SNAP Impact: [01:18] – [09:46]
• SNAP Funding Resolution Announced: [09:46]
• Sudan Civil War Overview & Updates: [11:37] – [16:44]
• Brief News/Headlines: [16:49] – [19:17]

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Tone & Style

The tone throughout is urgent, empathetic, and clear. Personal stories and firsthand journalist accounts ground the reporting with humanity and emotional resonance, especially in segments on hunger and Sudan’s conflict. News rundowns are concise but factual, and pop culture coverage injects brief levity.

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For Listeners Who Missed It

This episode offers a compelling look at how political dysfunction leads to real suffering in the U.S., as millions slip into hunger and desperation, and draws overdue attention to a major humanitarian crisis overseas. The reporting is both informative and emotive, with timely updates and on-the-ground perspectives you won’t find in standard headlines.

Transcript

[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Yasmin Bisugian]

Welcome to here's the scoop from NBC News. I'm Yasmin Bisugian and we are on the precipice of the weekend everybody. But before we hit snooze on all of our responsibilities, we have got a packed show for you today. We're heading overseas to explain the Sudan ceasefire deal. Plus the Supreme Court is meeting behind closed doors to weigh overturning the same sex marriage precedent and it's beginning to.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Look a lot like Christmas.

[Yasmin Bisugian]

Up first though, we are once again talking about the government Shutdown. We are 38 days in and we may finally be seeing a glimmer of hope. Democrats are offering a proposal to reopen the government. Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer announcing that Democrats would vote to fund the government in the short term in exchange for one more year of those enhanced Affordable Care act subsidies from Republicans that Democrats had been fighting for. The spokesperson for Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune responded with a post on X calling the Democrats new plan, quote, unserious. Meanwhile, as they continue their back and forth, the shutdown continues to wreak havoc for Americans daily lives. Over 900 flights within, into and out of the US have already been canceled as the federally mandated flight cuts have begun at 40 high traffic airports around the country, leaving travelers miserable and unsure if they'll reach their destination.

[Keir Simmons]

That sucks.

[Yasmin Bisugian]

I don't know what else to say. It's just, you know, I'm hopeful that.

[Shannon Petty Peace]

My flight gets off the ground today.

[Yasmin Bisugian]

And that I make it through security, but it's terrible. I want everyone to get where they're going. The FAA ordering a 4% reduction in operations Today cuts will then ramp up to 6% on November 11, and in a week they'll be at 10%. That's a lot. A move the agency says will alleviate issues caused by airport staffing shortages for air traffic controllers and TSA officers who have been working without pay throughout the shutdown. Meanwhile, the roughly 42 million Americans who rely on government food assistance are unsure where future meals are coming from as the SNAP funding is held up in court. The Trump administration says it will not comply with the judge's order to fully fund the program. And SNAP recipients are turning to desperate measures as they and their families are facing hunger. Want to bring in NBC News senior policy reporter Shannon Petty Peace, who's been speaking to those that have been impacted. Thank you, Shannon.

[Shannon Petty Peace]

Hi, Yasmin.

[Yasmin Bisugian]

Shannon, first up, this fight in the courts. What is happening with the back and forth between the courts and the Trump administration and continuing to fund these SNAP benefits while the government remains shut down?

[Shannon Petty Peace]

Yeah, I mean, it really has been a back and forth and a lot of confusion for recipients of these benefits and a lot of confusion for reporters who are covering. The latest is that last week a court ordered the Trump administration to use these emergency contingency funds that they have to pay out these SNAP benefits that expired at the first of the month. A judge ordered most recently the Trump administration to fully fund these SNAP benefits. The administration has pushed back against that, saying that they can't do that, making a legal argument that they don't have the ability to fully fund SNAP. At this point. They're appealing that decision. And now it's just going to have to continue going through the court process to let this play out. As of Friday afternoon, though, it remains unclear how much when, if SNAP recipients are going to be getting any benefits in the coming days.

[Yasmin Bisugian]

Can we talk about the benefit recipients? Who are they? What do we know about the people that rely on SNAP benefits?

[Shannon Petty Peace]

Well, there's 42 million of them. My colleagues and I have talked to about two dozen of them, at least, I'd say at least two dozen over the past few days. Overwhelmingly, the number, the people we have spoken to have been women, a lot of mothers, a lot of single mothers. And I was a little surprised by how many women I spoke to and heard from who were single women on disability in their 50s or 60s who couldn't work and were living off disability benefits. And SNAP was their main source of food.

[Yasmin Bisugian]

Around four in five households that rely on SNAP benefits include a child, an older adult, or someone with a disability, as you mentioned, to qualify a family of three must generally have an annual income below $35,000 a year. Did you talk to a lot of folks like that who have children at home who are working but just not being able to make ends meet?

[Shannon Petty Peace]

Yeah, exactly. I mean, I remember speaking to one childcare worker. So her income fluctuates some, but she has four children and range in ages from I believe it was 8 to 17. They need a lot of meals. They need snacks to fuel them when they're doing sports. And she was in a phase of rationing everything she could rationing meat, telling them there were no more after school snacks, thinking about if she could send them over to a friend's house for dinner to supplement their meals during the week. And a lot of these families, their children get meals through school for breakfast and lunch and those meals are pretty small, but it's something. And I was just talking to a mother yesterday about how, you know, now the weekend's coming up and so she still hasn't gotten her SNAP benefits and she has to figure out how to feed her kids over the weekend when they won't be able to get breakfast and lunches. And she was even thinking about how her Halloween candy, like the pretzels and chips and Rice Krispie treats in there, she could use to supplement her kids meals and snacks.

[Yasmin Bisugian]

What an incredibly awful place for a mother to be in and having to make those choices for. For your children. We've also heard anecdotally of situations in which people are donating blood to get extra cash. Have you spoken to some of those folks?

[Shannon Petty Peace]

One of my colleagues was at a food bank in Mississippi and she heard from a couple people who were considering that and as again, a means and a way to get food.

[Yasmin Bisugian]

You also spoke to a woman named Kayla Green, who's 33 years old. She's a mom, two kids living in upstate New York in the Hudson Valley. She's facing eviction.

[Shannon Petty Peace]

I mean, when I spoke to her a couple days ago, her family was really struggling. She had just a few days of food in the house. She said she's looking at an eviction this month. They had already been falling behind on rent for the past few months. They were hoping to catch up this month. Now they don't have their food budget. So grappling with whether they can make up the rent that they're behind and now feed their family. She just worried about being able to give them the type of nutritious food that young, growing kids need to be able to develop healthily like most of us. Want to do as parents.

[Yasmin Bisugian]

I was walking down the street in my neighborhood the other day and there was this food bank that is quite close to me. And I mean, the lime was out the door around the corner. Whenever this type of thing happens, oftentimes food banks and nonprofits have to bridge the gap is the supply there? Are they able to do that?

[Shannon Petty Peace]

So the food banks I've talked to are scrambling in some states. The states are giving extra money, extra help, like West Virginia, for example, has an enormously high number of SNAP recipients and the state is trying to help. I spoke to a food bank there, though, and they're pulling every lever they can, but they only have so much. And I think the numbers were it was around one in nine meals in that state are provided by a food bank. So if now all of a sudden there's eight more meals that needed to be provided for that single meal, they just can't meet that volume of the amount of benefits that SNAP was providing. The West Virginia food bank said there was one even before the benefits ran out. But in anticipation of them, one distribution where they would normally get 200 cars, where they got more than 700.

[Yasmin Bisugian]

Do they feel as if the government is hearing them, cares about them right now?

[Shannon Petty Peace]

I think they're trying, you know, I think they're trying to get heard. And that's why we're seeing people reach out to reporters like myself and my colleagues proactively to try and get heard. The individuals I've spoken to, some of them don't want to get into politics, but a few of them have brought it up that they just feel forgotten again and a feeling of I'm on my own and again, especially some, even with disabilities, against all the other obstacles and hurdles that they're up against.

[Yasmin Bisugian]

Shannon petty, Peace. Thank you.

[Shannon Petty Peace]

Thank you, Jasmin.

[Yasmin Bisugian]

Following our conversation, the U.S. department of Agriculture has notified states that it will immediately resume full funding for the SNAP program, complying with a federal court order issued by a judge in Rhode Island. In a memo obtained by NBC News, Patrick Penn, deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services, said the funds could be available as soon as today. While the Trump administration has appealed the ruling, officials said they will comply with the order in the meantime, as the case moves through the court. All right. We are going to take a very quick break. When we are back, we're going to be talking about the civil war in Sudan.

[Narrator/Announcer]

This week on MEET THE press, Kristen Welker sits down with California Governor Gavin Newsom to talk about his redistricting battles. What's next for the Democratic Party and his political future? Plus, Steve Kornacki breaks down a new poll just before the election this week on Meet THE Press. Listen to the full episode now. Wherever you get your podcasts, NBC News focuses on the facts. Looking deeper and listening wider. It's clear reporting free from opinion, facts, clarity, calm. NBC News reporting for America.

[Shannon Petty Peace]

Who's ready for some football?

[Narrator/Announcer]

All season, the TODAY show takes you inside the game.

[Yasmin Bisugian]

We're gonna get this party started.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Join us every week as we go behind the scenes with your favorite NFL teams for the biggest stories on and off the field.

[Keir Simmons]

Big game tonight.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Plus game day recipes that dial up your tailgate.

[Shannon Petty Peace]

Football food soup to nuts.

[Narrator/Announcer]

From stadium lights to game day bites, the Today show is your home for all things football every morning on NBC.

[Yasmin Bisugian]

And we are back with here's this group from NBC News. I want to take us now to Sudan where there appears to be movement towards ending a brutal civil war that is been raging since April of 2023. According to the UN it has forced more than 14 million people from their homes and killed more than 40,000, though some aid groups say the true death toll is likely multiple times higher. Now, the paramilitary group Rapid Support Force is widely accused of carrying out atrocities in this war, said in a statement that it has accepted a ceasefire proposal from US Led mediators. The RSF said a truce would help, quote, address the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of this war. But how close are we really to peace in Sudan? I want to bring in Kir Simmons, our chief international correspondent. Hi, Keir.

[Keir Simmons]

Hey there. How you doing?

[Yasmin Bisugian]

I'm good. It's great to have you here. I know a lot of our listeners may not be following this war quite as closely. Could you just break down for us who is fighting and what has been happening up until this point?

[Keir Simmons]

Well, it's really a war between two warlords, a civil war inside of Sudan. It's a war, of course, for power, for territory. It's also a war for resources. Sudan is rich in resources like gold. And it is a tribal war between two sides. One, the army, the Sudanese army, the other, as you mentioned, the rapid support forces. Some of this goes back a long way. Twenty years ago, some folks will remember Darfur, genocide carried out there. The group that were responsible for that genocide have morphed into the Rapid Support forces. And now the US has accused them, for example, of carrying out another genocide. And it's really escalated and got people's attention now because of a siege that has broken actually of the capital of Darfur, where the rapid support for forces, the rsf, have moved in. And to give you some insight into why people are so worried, there is a refugee camp nearby, Tawila. And of that quarter of a million people who live in that city, around 6,000 have made it there to safety. So far.

[Yasmin Bisugian]

Kira, I mentioned this war had been ongoing since April 2023. What has happened today or the last few days, really, that has pushed them to this ceasefire proposal?

[Keir Simmons]

Well, let's just say first that that ceasefire, which has been pushed for by the Trump administration and by some US Partners and allies, just today, the United nations is saying that what it is seeing is, in fact, that the area is set for escalation, not for a ceasefire. I think one of the reasons why it is now getting more attention than it has been, perhaps, is because this siege of the capital city of Darfur, Al Fasha, has broken and the RSF have gone in. And as I mentioned, there are a quarter of a million people there, and there are reports of massacres taking place. Another thing that's happened is it does appear that a commander in the RSF and his gang, if you like, were posting images on social media of them carrying out atrocities, killings. And in a place where we were getting so few images and stories were hard to get to, suddenly we. We have had this kind of explosion of pictures posted by some of these RSF militia themselves. And I think that has really caught people's attention. And the US has defined this as a genocide already. Talk about this. It may be that a genocide is underway in Alasia.

[Yasmin Bisugian]

So if that's happening, how do they even get to a truce? Is there actually an end in sight, or is this just a temporary pause?

[Keir Simmons]

Yeah, it's very difficult, incredibly difficult. I mean, this war has been supported, fueled, critics say, by multiple countries outside countries. The United Arab Emirates, for example, has been particularly criticized. It is accused of arming the rsf. The United Arab Emirates denies doing that and says that it supports a truce and is one of the countries that has, with the United States, been pushing for this truce. But the reality that there are multiple countries in the region that see their interests as potentially supporting one side or the other, it makes it very difficult to get to a resolution. Aside from what other observers talk about in this, which is, as I mentioned, the resources that are there, like gold, which is a catalyst or even a reason, some say, for why this terrible war continues.

[Yasmin Bisugian]

Keir Simmons, thank you.

[Keir Simmons]

You bet.

[Yasmin Bisugian]

All right, let's get to some headlines. Tesla shareholders just handed Elon Musk an eye popping, potentially $1 trillion pay package, a deal that is so massive it could make him the first member of the 4 comma club to cash in. Musk has to hit some wild milestones though, like producing a million optimus robots and launching self driving robo taxis. He'll also have to stay on as CEO for seven and a half years though he can keep running Space X and his AI startup X AI. Not everybody though, is on board. Norway's sovereign wealth fund voted no, warning the new shares could dilute existing ones. Still, more than 75% of shareholders backed the plan, a strong vote of confidence in Musk's ability to propel Tesla's value into the stratosphere while turning his sci fi dreams into reality. The Supreme Court justices discussed an appeal from former Kentucky Court Clerk Kim Davis behind closed doors in their private conference today, which includes a call to overTurn the landmark 2015 Oberg Fell vs Hodges ruling that legalized same sex marriage nationwide. Davis is appealing a lower court order compelling her to pay $360,000 in damages and fees to a same sex couple that she denied a license to. Her lawyers cited Justice Clarence Thomas, who is the only sitting justice to explicitly call for erasing the same sex marriage precedent. Thomas, along with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, dissented in the 2015 case that ruled in favor of same sex marriage, while Roberts has remained silent since his dissent. Alito recently criticized the ruling in an October speech at an academic conference, though he stopped short of calling for it to be overturned. The justices need four votes to take up the case and could announce their decision as soon as Monday.

[Keir Simmons]

Hey now, hey now. This is what dreams are made of.

[Yasmin Bisugian]

This is what millennial dreams are made of. Hillary Dunn Duff has been teasing a return to music for months. And now it has finally happened. Last night, Hilary Duff dropped her new single, the one you just heard called Mature. This is the first time the Disney alum has graced pop music since 2015. Duff told Jake Shane on Therapus podcast that a return to music was, quote, always going to happen. The 38 year old signed with Atlantic Records two months before announcing her single and will also be featured in a docu series about her rekindling an old flame.

[Keir Simmons]

Music and I'm sending you a merry New York Christmas.

[Yasmin Bisugian]

There is no place like New York for Christmas and one of the biggest landmarks is making its way to Rockefeller center as we speak. That is right. The Rockefeller Christmas tree has been picked, plucked and sitting in the back of a truck from upstate New York. The tree is going to arrive tomorrow and is a 75 foot tall, 11 ton Norway spruce tree. It was cut down Thursday morning in an Albany suburb 150 miles away from Manhattan. Over the next few days, the tree will be covered in lights and adorned with that 900 pound Swarovski star. The tree won't be lit until December 3, but I'll get to enjoy the smell of pine needles for weeks walking into the office. Okay, that's gonna do it for us. Thanks for listening to here's the scoop from NBC News. I'm Yasmin Vasugin. We'll be back Monday with whatever the weekend may bring. And if you like what you heard, then like us, back wherever you get your podcasts. We'll see you Monday.