The Quiet Breakup of the Education Department; Inside Iran’s Water Emergency

Summary

Podcast Summary: Here's the Scoop (NBC News)

Episode: The Quiet Breakup of the Education Department; Inside Iran’s Water Emergency
Host: Yasmin Vossoughian
Date: November 19, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this episode, host Yasmin Vossoughian explores two major stories:

1. The Trump administration’s covert efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education by parceling out its functions to other government agencies—a move described as a significant step toward the administration's long-standing goal of eliminating the federalized education department.
2. Iran’s escalating water crisis, including on-the-ground insight from Tehran about the impact of war and political instability on water infrastructure and the daily lives of residents.

Additional news briefs include major updates on the James Comey indictment mishap, the Larry Summers-Jeffrey Epstein email controversy, Russian strikes in Ukraine, new research on smoking risks, and soaring Thanksgiving turkey prices.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Quiet Breakup of the U.S. Department of Education

Guest: Erica Meltzer, National Editor at Chalkbeat
Time: 00:48–08:31

Key Details of the Administrative Changes

• Six Interagency Agreements Announced
  • K-12 education (Office of Elementary and Secondary Education) and higher education (Office of Postsecondary Education) functions are being moved under the Department of Labor.
  • Educational services for Native Americans move to the Department of the Interior.
  • Childcare for college student-parents and foreign medical school accreditation move to Health and Human Services.
  • International education responsibilities move to the Department of State.
  • Further moves, such as special education to HHS, are anticipated.

"If you were to go back into last year, any education reporter you talk to would tell you the Education Department was created by Congress, only Congress can get rid of it. But the administration is saying we're allowed to contract with other departments for services, and that's what we're doing here. So this is totally legal and we think this will be better for students and families."
— Erica Meltzer (01:53)

Motivations & Legal Approach

• Administration is employing interagency agreements to sidestep Congress, which does not have the votes or political will to dissolve the Department of Education outright.
• Legal ambiguity is expected to prompt lawsuits, but for now, the moves do not require congressional approval.

"But this is not something that needs congressional approval. And they are sidestepping Congress, where they probably do not have the votes to get rid of the Department of Education."
— Erica Meltzer (03:36)

Concerns About Deprioritizing Education

• The creation of the Department of Education under Carter was aimed at prioritizing education at the federal level.
• By decentralizing and "farming out" responsibilities, many experts and educators fear education will be deprioritized and lose oversight and expertise.
• Conservative critics of the department accuse it of liberal bias and believe decentralization will curb that influence.

"Having a standalone department, you have a cabinet level position that's prioritizing education... They're very worried that as these things get split up that you'll lose a lot of expertise, that people won't be able to answer these questions, that things will be disrupted."
— Erica Meltzer (04:22)

Impact on Public School Funding

• The changes themselves do not directly cut funding, but accompany budget proposals with significant grant and funding cuts.
• A "return to the states" rationale is paired with recommendations for reduced federal funding.

"The administration has been slashing grants all over the place. That's largely been upheld by the courts... When they talk about returning education to the states, they have proposals for significantly less funding."
— Erica Meltzer (06:45)

Will Parents and Students Feel the Impact?

• Immediate, day-to-day effects may be minimal and highly dependent on local circumstances.
• Effects may be felt more in loss of expertise, fewer grants/programs, and resources that are quietly eliminated.

"The day to day experience of your child going to school will probably not change that much. But that doesn't mean things aren't changing in terms of the resources that are available at the system level."
— Erica Meltzer (07:39)

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2. Iran’s Water Emergency

Guest: Amin Khodadodi, NBC News Producer in Tehran
Time: 10:03–14:31

Current Situation on the Ground

• Prolonged lack of rain and damaged infrastructure from recent conflict (Iran-Israel 12 Day War) have led to severe shortages in Tehran.
• City water pressure is being reduced; residents are encouraged to buy storage tanks and pumps—though inflation and economic hardship make this unattainable for many.
• The crisis is described as urgent and unprecedented for a city of 10 million.

"The taps, they're reducing the pressure and they're asking people to buy storage tanks... With this inflation, all of these devices are definitely more expensive to buy right now compared to a year ago. And these people are having issues... When a city doesn't have water, it's uninhabitable."
— Amin Khodadodi (10:40)

Historical Context & Structural Issues

• Iran’s geography should provide enough water, historically supported by mountain runoff and water canals.
• Political issues—especially faltering relations with Afghanistan and Turkey—have weakened Iran’s access to shared regional water resources.
• War and sanctions have led to underinvestment in infrastructure.

"The big issue is when you're not politically strong... You're not receiving [water shares] currently. Right now, you lost your bargain when you're not politically strong. And these have led to this crisis right now."
— Amin Khodadodi (12:02)

Government Solutions: Cloud Seeding

• The government is promoting cloud seeding as a potential fix, but residents remain skeptical, citing a lack of visible results.
• Lake Urmia, once the Middle East’s largest lake, has practically dried out despite reported interventions.

"What the people are saying is like, any solution would help, but we have to see the results, not only talk."
— Amin Khodadodi (13:25)

The Mood Among Iranians

• A collective sense of shock and anxiety pervades the population—concern about daily water running out is unprecedented.
• Officials estimate only 100 days of water remain in many dams.

"There are people still in a shock to have on your mind that you're not going to have water maybe in two months from now... But now it's here."
— Amin Khodadodi (14:02)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the legal maneuvering to dissolve the Department of Education:
  "This is a somewhat obscure area of law that they're tapping to do this. And so we'll see what the legal arguments are when we go into court."
  — Erica Meltzer (03:36)

• On how education decentralization could impact schools:
  "It doesn't make sense to have one function under the Department of Labor and another function under the Department of Health and Human Services."
  — Erica Meltzer (04:22)

• On water as an existential need:
  "When there's wars, when there's sanctions, you can live. But when a city doesn't have water, it's uninhabitable."
  — Amin Khodadodi (10:40)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:48–08:31: Discussion on the Trump administration's silent breakup of the Education Department (Erica Meltzer interview)
• 10:03–14:31: On-the-ground reporting from Tehran about Iran’s worsening water crisis (Amin Khodadodi interview)

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Additional Headlines (14:34–18:14)

• 14:34: Larry Summers steps down from OpenAI board after Epstein emails emerge.
• 15:14: DOJ error in James Comey grand jury proceedings could threaten the case.
• 15:51: Russian airstrikes kill 25 in Ukraine; NATO airspace briefly violated.
• 16:59: New research: Even minimal cigarette exposure increases heart risk.
• 17:29: Thanksgiving turkey and meat prices soar due to avian flu and supply issues.

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Summary

This episode of "Here’s the Scoop" delivers an incisive look at two underreported but consequential stories. The Trump administration’s unprecedented reorganization of the Department of Education reveals not only creative legal maneuvering but also sharp ideological divides over the federal role in schooling, with potentially far-reaching consequences for U.S. students and educators. Meanwhile, reporting from Tehran exposes the human side of Iran's deepening water crisis—a stark reminder of how governance, environment, and geopolitics converge to shape basic survival. These in-depth segments are complemented by brisk headlines rounding up the day's other major developments.

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For listeners seeking quick, clear, and insightful rundowns on news that shapes the world, this episode serves as a prime example of the podcast’s intelligent, facts-driven reporting.

Transcript

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[Yasmin Vesugian]

Hey, everybody, and welcome to here's the scoop from NBC News. I'm Yasmin Vesugian. Taps are running dry in the capital of Iran, and authorities are warning evacuations may be needed. The Department of Justice admitting to an error in the handling of the James Comey indictment. And sticker shock as Americans head to the grocery store to pick up their Thanksgiving turkeys. That is what is ahead on the show today. Up first, though, I want to talk about a story that you might have missed this week. The Trump administration taking steps to split up the responsibilities of the U.S. department of Education, divvying them out to other departments like labor and State. This is part of the administration's very long held goal to try and get rid of a federalized education department. And it is a key indicator of just how far the administration is willing to go to sidestep congressional authority in order to get there. Erica Meltzer is the national editor at Chalkbeat, where she covers education policy and politics, and she's joining us now. Hi, Erica.

[Erica Meltzer]

Thanks for having me.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

It's great to have you. Walk us through, if you will, the changes the administration announced yesterday.

[Erica Meltzer]

So there are six interagency agreements that were announced. The biggest one is moving the Office of Elements Secondary Education, which, just like it sounds like this is the Office that oversees K12 education as well as the Office of Post Secondary Education, which oversees higher education, will both be moving under the auspices of the Department of Labor. And this is being done through an interagency agreement. If you were to go back into last year, any education reporter you talk to would tell you the Education Department was created by Congress, only Congress can get rid of it. But the administration is saying we're allowed to contract with other departments for services, and that's what we're doing here. So this is totally legal and we Think this will be better for students and families.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

I want to talk more about the details of this split, too, because we have that Education Department. So they're moving Educational Services for Native Americans to the Department of Interior, Childcare for college students who are parents, and Accreditation of foreign medical Schools to Health and Human Services and International Education to the Department of State. So it's really kind of a decentralization of education overall across the spectrum.

[Erica Meltzer]

Yes. And they anticipate moving other functions of the Department of Education to other agencies. So, for example, there's been a lot of talk about moving special education to Health and Human Services. That hasn't happened yet, but a lot of people are anticipating that they will. And so they're farming out or parceling out all these different functions and seem to be working towards a place where you have a Department of Education in name only.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

But it is a way to sidestep Congress so they don't have to get congressional approval to break up the Department of Education.

[Erica Meltzer]

Yes, I imagine that there will be lawsuits about this, and I think this is a somewhat obscure area of law that they're tapping to do this. And so we'll see what the legal arguments are when we go into court. But yet. But this is not something that needs congressional approval. And they are sidestepping Congress, where they probably do not have the votes to get rid of the Department of Education.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

One of the reasons why the Department of Ed was initially created under the Carter Administration was to essentially prioritize education above all else. Right. And by decentralizing education and farming it out to these different agencies, is there a concern that education will, in fact be deprioritized?

[Erica Meltzer]

That is a massive concern for many, many, many people who work in this space. Having a standalone department, you have a cabinet level position that's prioritizing education. You have a lot of different functions that are in one place. And people who work at the school level will tell you the special education teacher is in the general education classroom working with that student. It doesn't make sense to have one function under the Department of Labor and another function under the Department of Health and Human Services. Something that's important to understand is that education to a very large degree is already in the hands of the states. The vast majority of the education decisions that you will experience as a student or as a parent, the regulations that govern you as a teacher, these are made at the state level. These are made at your school district level. Already conservatives who have been wanting to get rid of the department for a very long time they think the phrase that I'll hear is that people get up to mischief at the Department of Education. There is a perception among conservatives that the department has a very liberal ideological bent and that they have applied this to how they approach their job and that if they break up this bureaucracy, you kind of change that culture. And who really cares? Who's at the keyboard pushing the button, sending the money out? They'll say, it doesn't actually matter to schools, does it? When I talk to people at the district level, they will say that there is a lot of expertise at the Education Department. So if they have a question about what tutoring program is the best or is this an allowed use of Title 1 money, there's people who can answer that question. And they're very worried that as these things get split up that you'll lose a lot of expertise, that people won't be able to answer these questions, that things will be disrupted. A lot of this is happening at a more technical, bureaucratic level. I do think that the typical teacher or student will not necessarily feel this, at least right away. And it really depends. Does it go smoothly or is there a lot of disruption? I think a lot of people are reasonably worried that there will be disruption.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

Is there a possibility of affecting public funding to schooling, public schools across the country? Is that a potential.

[Erica Meltzer]

Not directly from this change, but the administration has been slashing grants all over the place. That's largely been upheld by the courts. They have a budget proposal that involves pretty serious budget cuts. And so these two things are working in tandem. When they talk about returning education to the states, they have proposals for significantly less funding and they're doing these bureaucratic changes. And so it's really a question of how those things work in concert. What happens with Congress. It's a little bit of a moving target.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

Could this. I think, I think a lot of parents wonder, okay, how's this going to affect my kid? And you have told us that they may not see the effects of this change. Is this going to affect the curriculum at all for my kids? What do you tell them?

[Erica Meltzer]

This is going to depend a lot on where you go to school and what you are already experiencing. So for example, we have heard of some situations where teachers are sort of self censoring or schools are not maybe picking up a curriculum that had a more social justice bent to it because they don't want to draw the ire of the administration. There might be a grant that wasn't funded and now you don't have that extra teacher at your school that would have helped support students where they've cut a lot of mental health training grants. These are things that are going to be around the edges where you might not necessarily know what didn't happen because you didn't get that money. The day to day experience of your child going to school will probably not change that much. But that doesn't mean things aren't changing in terms of the resources that are available at the system level.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

Erica Meltzer, thank you.

[Erica Meltzer]

Always a pleasure.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

All right. We are going to take a very quick break. And when we are back, we are checking in on a water shortage in Iran. Stay with us.

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And we are back with here's the scoop of NBC News. So posters are going up all over Tehran. The message from the Iranian government reads this. There is a water shortage. It is fall and there is still no rain. The country is facing its worst water crisis in decades. With no rain in the forecast, authorities now warning they may even have to evacuate the capital city of 10 million people. And the residents there, they are feeling like they have been left high and dry. I want to bring in Amin Khodadodi. He's an NBC News producer based in Tehran and he's joining us now. Amin, what is it like in Tehran right now amidst this water crisis?

[Amin Khodadodi]

Well, after the war, the mood never recovered. The people are still in a shock and a surprise of the war. The government is Saying, okay, because of the war, the water pipelines have suffered damages. The main water pipeline in North Tehran was hit during The Iran Israel 12 Day War, and it flooded the streets of Tehran. But the main issue is when you were rich, when you were selling oil, you could have renewed your infrastructure, you could have invested in your infrastructure, but you decided to spend elsewhere. The taps, they're reducing the pressure and they're asking people to buy storage tanks or asking people to buy pumps. With the economic situation right now, it's not that easy. People are doing two jobs right now. Maybe they don't have very good drinking water. They can't afford buying a storage tank, they can't buy a pump. And with this inflation, all of these devices are definitely more expensive to buy right now compared to a year ago. And these people are having issues. Seven months, we've only had like just 20 minutes of rain in the city of Tehran and the capital. With more than 10 million people living. When there's wars, when there's sanctions, you can live. But when a city doesn't have water, it's uninhabitable.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

Is it normal, Amin, to have water shortages in Iran?

[Amin Khodadodi]

Well, this, this country had the water issue for hundreds of years. It's not a total dry country, but they've always planned throughout years. Like 200 years ago, 300 years ago, there was water canals across the country. The country has two large mountains, the Zagros mountains, the Alborz Mountains. And with these mountains, you know, these are sources of water. You shouldn't have water shortages. The Caspian Sea is in the north, there's a Persian Gulf in the south, there's a Sea of Oman. You have access to the Indian Ocean, you have access to open water across the country. The big issue is when you're not politically strong, there's the water shares you can get from Turkey, there's water shares you can get from Afghanistan. You're not receiving that currently. Right now, you lost your bargain when you're not politically strong. And these have led to this crisis right now.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

One of the solutions that the government is putting forward is cloud seeding, which is this weather modification technique that introduces kind of these tiny particles known as silver iodide into existing clouds to enhance their ability to produce rain or snow. How could cloud seeding feasibly help? And what are people saying about it, about cloud seeding?

[Amin Khodadodi]

The government is talking about cloud seeding a lot. They've talked about it in the past few years that we're doing this. We have the hardware, we have the accessories. We have all the devices needed to do this. And they said they've started it in Lake Urmia. Lake Urmia was one of the largest lakes in the Middle east, but it's totally dry right now. What the people are saying is like, any solution would help, but we have to see the results, not only talk.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

About it and they're not seeing those results. Now. How are you feeling? Are people worried?

[Amin Khodadodi]

The mood right now is, is, you know, there are people are still in a shock to have on your mind that you're not going to have water maybe in two months from now. One of the officials were saying that most of the dams across the country are empty. There's only 100 days of water. This, you know, in this country we're always like, okay, this is not going to happen. It's going to happen in four years, five years, 10 years. But now it's here.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

Amin Khodadadi, thank you.

[Amin Khodadodi]

Thank you very much.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

All right, let's get to some headlines. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers says he is, quote, deeply ashamed and is stepping back from a number of public commitments, including resigning from the board of OpenAI after newly released emails detailed his years long personal correspondence with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The documents released by the House Oversight Committee revealed a surprisingly close relationship between the 2. In a March 2019 exchange, they each even discussed a woman that Summers was interested in. Summers says he takes, quote, full responsibility for the misguided decision to stay in contact. And while he'll continue teaching at Harvard, the university has launched a review into his ties with the disgraced financier. The Justice Department admitted today that not every member of the grand jury in former FBI Director James Comey's case saw the final version of the indictment, an error that could lead to the case being dismissed on grounds that he faces a, quote, selective and vindictive prosecution. During the hearing, prosecutor Tyler lemons confirmed to U.S. district Judge Michael Nakmanoff that the revised two count indictment was never shown to the entire grand jury after the panel rejected one count of the initial three count version. Nakmanoff then briefly questioned former Trump lawyer Lindsey Halligan, who, despite lacking prior prosecutorial experience, presented the case. She confirmed that the second indictment was signed by only the grand jury for a person without full grand jury review. Comey was in court for the hearing and his attorney asked for the case to be dismissed. At least 25 people, including three children, were killed in Russian strikes on the western Ukrainian city of Ternopol after two nine story apartment buildings were hit. According to the interior ministry. Another 73 people, including 15 kids, were hurt as well. And the fallout did not stop at Ukraine's borders. Early this morning, Romania a NATO member scrambled fighter jets after a Russian drone briefly crossed about five miles into its airspace during strikes on Ukrainian port infrastructure along the Danube, according to the Romanian Defense Ministry. The drone dropped off radar soon after, but it's just the latest in a string of airspace violations, including debris that has already landed on Romanian soil. Two German Eurofighter typhoons and two Romanian F16s launch within minutes, a sharp reminder of just how close this war is pressing against NATO's eastern edge.

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Or since chicken prices are also up, you could always go vegan. All right, that's gonna do it for us at here's this group from NBC News. I'm Yasmin Vesugin. We'll be back tomorrow with whatever the day may bring. And if you like what you heard, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. We'll see you tomorrow.

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