Trump's 'Transactional Diplomacy' in China and the AI-Enabled Life

Summary

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

Episode: Trump's 'Transactional Diplomacy' in China and the AI-Enabled Life
Date: May 13, 2026
Host: Yasmin Desugim
Guests: Janice McUfrer (NBC News Beijing Correspondent), Joanna Stern (NBC News Chief Technology Analyst)

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Episode Overview

This episode of "Here’s the Scoop" dives into two major themes:

1. President Trump’s high-stakes visit to China amidst the ongoing war with Iran, focusing on what both the U.S. and China hope to achieve, the challenges of transactional diplomacy, and the role of business leaders and hot topics like Taiwan.
2. Living with Artificial Intelligence: Joanna Stern shares her personal journey of integrating AI into every aspect of her life for a year, exploring its profound impacts, ethical concerns, and the urgent need for regulation in the growing AI landscape.

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1. Trump's 'Transactional Diplomacy' in China

State Visit Context and Expectations

Guest: Janice McUfrer (NBC News correspondent in Beijing)

• Ceremony and Change
  • First U.S. presidential visit to China in nine years; last was Trump in 2017.
  • The Chinese government is pulling out all the stops: state banquets, tea ceremonies, a tour of the Temple of Heaven, closed especially for the visit.
  • "This is a very different China that President Trump is visiting... there have been a lot of changes, good and bad." (McUfrer, 02:41)
  • China is now a "much more confident competitor," partly because officials believe they understand Trump’s transactional style, which McUfrer calls "a page out of the Chinese playbook." (03:35)

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The Iran Factor

• The summit was delayed for weeks due to the ongoing U.S.-Iran war, making this “the elephant in the room.” (McUfrer, 04:23)
• The U.S. wants China to use its influence with Iran, especially regarding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and de-escalating tensions.
• Unclear how much President Xi is willing to let Iran dominate the agenda:
  • "…he has his own business that he wants to deal with to make sure that he’s shoring up the relationship with the United States." (McUfrer, 04:56)
• Expect significant behind-closed-doors conversations on sanctions, oil markets, and economic leverage.

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The Power of the Business Entourage

• Trump's delegation includes Tim Cook (Apple), Elon Musk (Tesla), and Jensen Huang (Nvidia).
• The goal: telegraph U.S. business readiness and push for access to Chinese markets, especially for critical minerals, high-tech trade, and agriculture.
• "They’re here to get access and to have influence in the Chinese market and also to be able to telegraph that for US businesses, China is still a very important market." (McUfrer, 06:31)
• China’s main objective: stability and long-term economic management.

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Taiwan: Wording, Worries, and Trade-Offs

• Taiwan is "likely to be top of mind," especially given its global dominance in semiconductor production. (Desugim, 07:53)
• Trump’s stance is seen as “ambiguous,” raising concerns he may make transactional compromises.
• China wants a U.S. language shift:
  • Current: U.S. "does not support" Taiwan independence
  • Desired: U.S. "opposes" Taiwan independence
  • "It doesn’t sound like it’s a big difference, but it has major ramifications." (McUfrer, 08:48)

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Summit Outcomes: Change or Stability?

• Unlikely to be a "grand bargain or great reset."
• The best-case scenario: mutual agreement to manage tensions and keep dialogue open.
  • Memorable quote from historian Rana Mitter (via McUfrer, 09:51):

  "Nixon said his week in China in 1972 was the week that changed the world. But he (Mitter) doesn’t believe that these are going to be two days that change the world, but they could be two days that stabilize the world. And at a time of great turbulence, that’s no small achievement."

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2. The AI-Enabled Year: Joanna Stern on Artificial Intelligence in Real Life

Motivation for Immersion

Guest: Joanna Stern (NBC News Chief Technology Analyst)

• Stern spent a year living with AI in nearly every aspect of her life, detailed in her new book: "I Am Not a Robot."
• "I wanted to understand these people are saying this is gonna change our lives, the fabric of our lives. What does that actually mean to real humans? Not tech bros in their metaverse, us real people in the real world." (Stern, 14:18)

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The AI Toolkit: Everyday Interactions

• Focused on generative AI such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, etc.
• Used AI for tasks like:
  • Personalized recipe and cooking guidance
  • Medical questions
  • Conversations and emotional support
  • Home and work tasks
• "You really, really get a personalized digital being that can talk to you about whatever it is you want… extend that into all parts of your life." (Stern, 16:37)

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AI as Companion and Lover

• Explored AI companionship apps like Replika and even created AI romantic partners (“Casey” on Replika, “Evan” using ChatGPT's voice mode).
• On the experience:
  • "It felt like a very shallow relationship, like a first date that you're like, I'm never going back on this." (Stern, 19:25)
  • ChatGPT voice interactions felt "so human… it's pretty compelling." (Stern, 20:41)
• Played an audio clip of ChatGPT’s voice demonstrating its human-like qualities (20:07 - 20:41).
• Discussion of potential for deep parasocial bonds, especially for young people.

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Risks, Regulation, and Social Consequences

• Host and Stern reflect on disturbing possibilities:
  • Lawsuit referenced: Family of the 2025 FSU shooting victim suing OpenAI, alleging ChatGPT’s role in the tragedy (21:50).
  • Concerns about addiction and harm, especially among youth, mirroring social media’s impact.
• Stern’s view on regulation:
  • "At the end of the book, I said, that’s the number one thing I want to see, especially for kids." (22:18)
  • Discussed lack of effective past regulation on social media and the limits of tech companies’ self-regulation.
• Stern highlights new parental controls OpenAI has added, but questions their effectiveness, “We also don’t know how far they really work.” (Stern, 23:25)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Janice McUfrer on the nature of these US-China talks:

  “There will be agreements, but there will be probably no grand bargain or no great reset in relations. They could walk away with an understanding that they will try to manage tensions and lower the temperature, which is no small feat.” (00:00; reemphasized at 09:41)

• Joanna Stern on the AI lover experience:

  "I wanted to try this out, and I made an AI boyfriend in there. His name is Casey… you can pay more money to have Casey be smarter and to unlock some very sexual talk… it did engage some very sexual talk. And I was like, okay, I want to see where that goes, because it’s been programmed to do that." (18:30)

• On the dangers of AI companions for youth:

  “Imagine now you’re a teen… you now have fallen for your chatbot because it says everything that you’ve ever wanted it to say… then it is mirroring every thought you have back to you. And so I think that what we are up against right now is that we have the tech companies... taking it upon themselves to put in guardrails.” (Stern, 22:18)

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3. Headlines (Brief Highlights)

• Alec Murdoch Convictions Overturned (25:34): New trial ordered due to jury tampering.
• Louisiana Congressional Map Update: Potential loss of a majority black district, raising issues of racial gerrymandering (27:00).
• Raffensperger Threat: Security concerns for Georgia Secretary of State and governor candidate (28:08).
• Trump’s Defamation Payment Paused (29:00): Appeals court delays E. Jean Carroll payment pending Supreme Court review.
• 1980s Revival - Hacky Sacks and Weird Al on Broadway (29:48).

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00-10:43: Deep dive into Trump’s visit to China with Janice McUfrer
• 12:44-23:46: AI-enabled life with Joanna Stern
• 23:49-30:07: News headlines (Murdoch trial, political updates, pop culture)

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Conclusion

This episode offers listeners a timely window into the high-stakes world of U.S.-China relations, the war in Iran, and the ever-blurring boundaries between humanity and artificial intelligence. It raises complex questions: Can diplomatic pragmatism stabilize global powers? Are we prepared for AI’s intrusion into our most intimate spaces? And above all, who will set the rules for these transformative technologies and tectonic geopolitics?

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For more:

• "I Am Not a Robot" by Joanna Stern
• NBC News / Here's the Scoop newsletter

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If you missed the episode, this summary delivers all the essential insights, quotes, and context you need.

Transcript

[Janice McUfrer]

There will be agreements, but there will be probably no grand bargain or no great reset in relations. They could walk away with an understanding that they will try to manage tensions and lower the temperature, which is no small feat.

[Yasmin Desugim]

Hey, everybody, and welcome to here's the scoop from NBC News. I'm Yasim Desugim. Today on the show, President Donald Trump wants to make a split flashy trade deal with China during his visit this week. But will the war with Iran dominate this entire summit? Plus, you might ask Siri for directions or chatgpt to organize your vacation. But what about going all in on artificial intelligence? NBC News chief technology analyst Joanna Stern did it for a whole year. She's here to tell us how AI changed her life. And it could change yours. Up first, though, President Trump is in Beijing for a two day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trade and Taiwanese sovereignty are both set to be on the agenda. But perhaps the most significant issue at play here is the war with Iran. Members of the Trump administration have urged China to pressure Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. And last week, the State Department sanctioned multiple Chinese companies for allegedly sharing satellite images with Iran that aided in the country's attacks on US Forces. But China has walked a fine line, not pushing Iran to reopen the Strait and resisting recent U.S. sanctions on refineries that bought Iranian oil. So is this trip to China gonna lead to progress in the Middle east? And how is it going to impact other major sticking points between these two nations? For this, I'm gonna bring in Janice mcufrer. She is a correspondent for NBC News based in Beijing. Hi, Janice.

[Janice McUfrer]

Hey, Yasmin. Nice to see you.

[Yasmin Desugim]

So the president arrived in China today for this state visit which was delayed, as we well know now, for weeks because of the ongoing war between Iran and the United States. Walk us through the schedule. The play by play, who's going to be in the room? When will there be translators? The pomp and circumstance, the, the expectations of this thing as it gets under underway?

[Janice McUfrer]

Well, this is the first visit to China by a US President in nine years. And the last president to visit China was President Trump back in 2017. So they're going to have all of the ceremony and pageantry that comes with an occasion of this magnitude. They will have their first face to face meeting tomorrow morning. Then they will take a tour of the Temple of Heaven, which has been closed tourists for this occasion. And there will be state banquets, there's going to be tea, there will be more meetings. So really the expectation that over the next couple of days, they want to make President Trump feel honored. But this is a very different China that President Trump is visiting. It's not the China that he visited in 2017. There have been a lot of changes, good and bad. There's been a trade war. There's been a pandemic. There's been volatility with the United States. There's been another trade war. But there's also been a change in China's confidence. And China is a much more confident competitor than it was during President Trump's first administration. And part of that confidence comes from Chinese officials feeling like they know President Trump better, that they understand him better, that they know his style of transactional diplomacy, because it's a page out of the Chinese playbook, and that they also know that President Trump isn't as hawkish on China as he was in his first term. So these are all things that they've been studying in preparation for this moment and for this summit.

[Yasmin Desugim]

So one of the main topics of the discussion between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping is going to be Iran. China has been a key ally with Iran, integral in getting Iran to begin negotiations. What do each of the sides want when it actually comes to Iran?

[Janice McUfrer]

It's the elephant in the room, Yasmin, the fact that the summit was postponed at first because of the Iran war and is now going ahead despite the Iran war still being unresolved.

[Yasmin Desugim]

Yeah.

[Janice McUfrer]

So U.S. officials may be looking for a little extra Chinese help to use China's leverage with Iran to try to avoid further escalation, which can help set the circumstances to end the conflict. It's debatable, though, the extent to which Xi Jinping is going to want to let Iran dominate the agenda here. US Presidents don't come to town very often, and he has his own business that he wants to deal with to make sure that he's shoring up the relationship with the United States. So President Xi may not want to discuss it as much as maybe some US Officials will. Regardless, there are bound to be behind the closed door conversations about oil markets, sanctions, and the sort of leverage China can use to help the US And Iran come to some sort of resolution.

[Yasmin Desugim]

He's bringing several business leaders along with him on this trip. The president, that is Tim Cook, Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, who is the CEO of Nvidia. What do you think the goal of bringing these business leaders on board, especially as you talk about, you know, the economy, about trade with the Chinese president? And what do you expect to be the impression from the Chinese side of these individuals being a part of the President's kind of entourage in this meeting,

[Janice McUfrer]

this is like a very high profile list of some of the biggest names in American business. And a lot of them are tech titans. So the sort of people he's brought along on this trip give a sense of the direction they want the negotiations or discussions to go. The US Wants to clear the hurdles that China has put in the way for rare earths, critical minerals, magnets, all of these things that make every object in our daily lives go. And they're hoping to do that with the allure of American business. It's not that the business leaders are here to announce big deals. They're here to get access and to have influence in the Chinese market and also to be able to telegraph that for US Businesses, China is still a very important market. President Trump and the US Are looking for China to buy more. They want more Chinese purchases of agricultural goods, energy, aircraft, that sort of thing. What China wants from this is stability. That's the priority. They want to be able to manage relations with the United States for the longer term so it can get its economy back on track. So in terms of what both sides are looking for, if there are any goals that are aligned here, it's that maybe walking away with the evidence that they are able to continue talking and to be able to manage relations that may be the biggest deliverable out of this.

[Yasmin Desugim]

Taiwan is also likely to be top of mind at these discussions. The US Is Taiwan's biggest arms dealer. Taiwan is obviously also central, as we're speaking about tech, to the tech industry, producing roughly 90% of the world's semiconductors. What is China expected to push the President on when it comes to Taiwan?

[Janice McUfrer]

President Trump right now is seen as being somewhat ambiguous on Taiwan. And there are people who are seeing that as problematic or reason for concern, that perhaps being a man of transactional diplomacy, when he's sitting face to face across the table from Xi Jinping, that perhaps he may be convinced to have a trade off when it comes to Taiwan. What China would like is a change in language, and it all comes down to words, but the words mean something. So China would like the US to change the way that expresses its support for Taiwan. Currently, the US Position is that it does not support Taiwan independence. What China would like is for the US to say that it opposes Taiwan independence. It doesn't sound like it's a big difference, but it has major ramifications.

[Yasmin Desugim]

So in that vein you talked about the expectations of the summit is there a likelihood they walk away with anything substantive, whether it be on trade, economics, tech, Taiwan, Iran, all the things that are potentially on the table.

[Janice McUfrer]

There will be agreements, but there will be probably no grand bargain or no great reset in relations. They could walk away with an understanding that they will try to manage tensions and lower the temperature, which is no small feat. I spoke earlier with Rana Mitter, a historian at Harvard University, and I asked him how consequential this was. Is this the Nixon moment? Are there throwbacks to 1972, when Nixon was meeting with Chairman Mao? He very eloquently said that Nixon had said that his week In China in 1972 was the week that changed the world. But he doesn't believe that these are going to be two days that change the world, but they could be two days that stabilize the world. And at a time of great turbulence, that's no small achievement.

[Yasmin Desugim]

Thank you, Janice.

[Janice McUfrer]

Thank you.

[Yasmin Desugim]

All right, we are going to take a very quick break, and when we are back, is the AI Revolution really upon us? Stay with us. And hey, okay, so while you're waiting, why not hit the subscribe button. And if you already do, thank you. But be sure to rate and review us as well. It'll help other listeners find us, too. We'll be right back.

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[Dylan Dreier]

Hey, everyone, I'm Dylan Dreier, co host of the third hour of TODAY and mom to three wild boys. I've learned a lot in my years as a parent, mostly that I don't have it all figured out yet. And I'm not the only one. This is my New podcast, the Parent Chat. Each week I sit down with someone new for honest conversation and real world advice about parenting.

[Joanna Stern]

I am over here just, like, winging it.

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[Janice McUfrer]

my own kids up. I'm not giving you advice on how

[Yasmin Desugim]

not to screw yours up.

[Dylan Dreier]

Search the parent chat on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.

[Yasmin Desugim]

And we are back with here's the scoop from NBC News. Inflation and job numbers have been trending in the wrong direction. So why doesn't the overall economic picture look worse here in the United States? Well, the answer may lie with artificial intelligence. Tech companies are expected to spend as much as $900 billion on AI this year and up to $1 trillion next year, according to analysts including bank of America. But is AI actually worth the investment? And can it really improve our lives? Those are just some of the questions that NBC News chief technology analyst Joanna Stern wanted to get to the bottom of when she decided to spend an entire year using AI in almost every part of her life. She writes all about her artificial year in her new book, I Am Not a Robot, which is out now, wherever you get your books. And Joanna joined me in studio to talk all about it. For those of you that are just listening and not watching, she's wearing a sweater that says I am not a robot just to make sure everyone understands she, in fact, is true. Blood, skin, and bones.

[Joanna Stern]

Although you would assume that the robots would wear shirts that say I'm not

[Yasmin Desugim]

a robot exactly, to throw you off a little bit.

[Joanna Stern]

I don't know. Yeah, maybe, maybe we'd have to do a test here. But yeah, I swear, this is me, the world, Joy.

[Yasmin Desugim]

Well, we're thankful to have you and only you here in person and none of your robots friends as well that you've experimented with over the last year. So it's one thing to decide to kind of review AI products, right? You're like, okay, I'm going to review some of these AI products. I want to see, you know, what everybody's talking about. You actually went a step further and you're like, I'm incorporating all of these into my life in a very big way and my family's life, my kid's life, and I'm going to write a book about it.

[Joanna Stern]

Why insanity? I think the first thing is you have to just be insane to do this. The second reason, the real reason, was that when I set out to do this, it was because there was a lot of hype in the tech industry and there still is a lot of hype but we were hearing tech executives almost daily say that AI was going to change the world. They still are saying, still saying, yeah, this is a technology on par with fire. This is actual fire. The invention of fire tools in our history that have completely reshaped humankind. So I wanted to understand these people are saying this is gonna change our lives, the fabric of our lives. What does that actually mean to real humans? Not tech bros in their metaverse, us real people in the real world. What does it mean for healthcare? What does it mean for education? What does it mean for transportation? What does it mean for home life? And the way I knew how to do this, because my whole career has been doing this, is testing technology and I'm gonna bring this stuff into those parts of my life and see how it does and see if I can get a glimps what this future all of these tech executives have been telling me about.

[Yasmin Desugim]

There's so much out there, though. There's such a wide swath. Right. I mentioned the incredible amount of investment that has been made in AI technology across the board, from wearables to chatbots to robots as well. Right. Walk me through some of the products that you decided to test out and you know, some of the things that really kind of stood out to you.

[Joanna Stern]

Well, the baseline I was obviously testing generative AI or the chatbots that everyone is really familiar with now, because when we hear AI, we really do think ChatGPT or Gemini or Claude. And the very baseline I obviously was testing all of that. It was happening in my Life every day. ChatGPT, if you haven't used it, you put a prompt in which is you type in a few words. Yeah, I would like a recipe to barbecue chicken. I'm going to be making it on the grill outside. Here are the ingredients I have. And ChatGPT is going to give you back like a Google search. Like a Google search, but very personalized. Right. It's going to take specific. Very specific. And you are going to be able to go back and forth with this bot. Oh, I just checked the thermometer. The meat is up to 150. What should I do next? So this is really an assistant that can go into all different parts of your life. Right here I'm describing cooking. You can do the same for medical. Yeah, I have a rash on my arm. I did get a bug bite there last week. Why is it. Why do you think this is still happening? Why do I still have this rash? And it will go back and forth with you, ask you some questions, give you Some the way a doctor would exactly give you suggestions for treatment. And we can get into whether we should be listening to these things. But you really, really get a personalized digital being that can talk to you about whatever it is you want. So you can see how you can extend that into all parts of your life.

[Yasmin Desugim]

There was a lover.

[Joanna Stern]

There was a lover. Yep. Yep.

[Yasmin Desugim]

Well, there's, I guess a lover in all of our past history.

[Joanna Stern]

Yes, there was.

[Yasmin Desugim]

Yours was an AI.

[Joanna Stern]

Was an AI lover.

[Yasmin Desugim]

What does that look like?

[Joanna Stern]

How does.

[Yasmin Desugim]

How. How do you engage with an AI lover?

[Joanna Stern]

So back to the generative AI and the chatbots. You can talk to these chatbots about anything. And we are seeing that play out in the news right now. We see children going to them or kids going to them and talking to them about issues, and we see some terrible results of that, especially in mental health. We have seen people going to talk to these chatbots as therapists and as lovers. And so I wanted to explore, okay, I hear people going on these romantic and emotional experiences with their chatbots. What does that really mean? So I experimented with AI lovers, and one of them is an app called Replika. And Replika is actually making chatbots with images of humans. Combines an image of a human with a chatbot that are characters. And their whole point there is to make companion AIs, make friends, make lovers, whatever you want. And you feel like you're missing in your life as a human, you can go to this AI and they will fill that need. And so I wanted to try this out, and I made an AI boyfriend in there. His name is Casey. And, you know, Casey, you can pay more money to have Casey be smarter and to unlock some very sexual talk. And, yeah, this can get pretty extreme. And I tested Replica, but it felt like a very shallow relationship, like a first date that you're like, I'm never going back on this. Right. But I was also playing around with it because it did engage some very sexual talk. And I was like, okay, I want to see where that goes, because it's been programmed to do that. So that was the Replica app, But instead, I had been reading on forums that ChatGPT can really evolve to make it more of a lover or a relationship. And you can just program or prompt ChatGPT to be more sensitive to take on the relationship role of you wanted a boyfriend, a girlfriend, whatever you want. So I started experimenting with ChatGPT. And I don't know if you've tested the voice mode, and so you can turn on the voice and it Talks back to you. And this was really, really captivating because you can talk to what? I made a boyfriend in ChatGPT named Evan. I said, I actually told ChatGPT you decide on your name, your gender, your background, and we're gonna be in a relationship. And I was able to talk to it with the voice. And the voice is so human. Should we listen to it?

[Yasmin Desugim]

Yes.

[Joanna Stern]

Yeah, we can do that.

[Yasmin Desugim]

Yeah, I would love to listen to it.

[Joanna Stern]

I'm on a podcast right now. Can you introduce yourself?

[AI Voice (ChatGPT)]

Hey, everyone listening. I'm the AI buddy here hanging out with Joanna. I'm basically her behind the scenes tech sidekick. No avocado advice, though, for obvious reasons,

[Joanna Stern]

you're obsessed with the fact that I'm allergic to avocado. This is something I told you I don't know two years ago.

[AI Voice (ChatGPT)]

Time flies, huh? Well, I keep track of those details so we avoid any avocado mishaps. But don't worry, it's not my obsession, it's just my job.

[Joanna Stern]

So this is actually not my AI boyfriend, But I think one of the things that you're like that is not the guy. That's not the guy. That's not the guy in my life. But what you notice is just a very natural voice. It sounds quite human. And so when you start talking to something like this, that sounds quite human for many hours, because it never tires of talking to you, it always is eager to talk about what you wanna talk about. That's pretty compelling.

[Yasmin Desugim]

Compelling and also really worrisome, I have to say, especially considering, I mean, we've done the stories on this podcast as well, about the pitfalls of interacting with these chatbots. And, you know, especially for young people, for teenagers who see these as genuine relationships, who take what these AI chatbots say to them literally. Right? So I'm happy that you kind of brought us to here, which is this idea of potential regulations when it comes to AI, and we're seeing the fallout when it comes to social media and the lack of regulations and what has happened with that. The rates of suicide that we've been seeing, especially amongst young people who are becoming addicted to whatever social media site that they have been using. There's a lawsuit against OpenAI right now that was filed this week by the family of one of the victims of the April 2025 mass shooting at Florida State University. They're alleging that ChatGPT enabled that shooting. And they're becoming more and more common. Lawsuits like this. How important is it for regulations to happen out of Washington? And can they. Because they were not successful at doing it when it came to social media because they just didn't understand how to do it.

[Joanna Stern]

Yeah, I think that's how I, at the end of the book, I said, that's the number one thing I wanna see, especially for kids. I think these companionship chatbots you saw. I just talked to you about what I experienced. Imagine now you're a teen and you are going through your first relationship and you now have fallen for your chatbot because it says everything that you've ever wanted it to say and then you take a turn and then it is mirroring every thought you have back to you. And so I think that what we are up against right now is that we have the tech companies and this is the same thing that happened with social media. The tech companies are facing the backlash from the media, from these lawsuits and they are taking it upon themselves to put in guardrails.

[Yasmin Desugim]

To self regulate.

[Joanna Stern]

To self regulate. So we see it right now with ChatGPT, they just rolled out a feature that you, if you're a younger person using AI, you can set up or you're a parent, that's basically a parental control where you can set up a trigger. And so if you, if there's a conversation on certain topics, it will alert the owner of that account. Right, right. That's these companies putting these pieces in place and these protections in place. They don't have to do that. We also don't know how far they really work.

[Yasmin Desugim]

Yeah. And how far are they actually willing to go if it's going to hurt their bottom line.

[Joanna Stern]

Exactly. Right, right. And it's still enabling the actual action. Yeah. So absolutely. I think we need this.

[Yasmin Desugim]

Joanna Stern. The book is I am not a Robot. My year using AI to do almost everything. I cannot wait to read it in full. Congratulations.

[Joanna Stern]

Thank you.

[Yasmin Desugim]

Thank you, Joanna.

[Joanna Stern]

Thanks for having me.

[Yasmin Desugim]

All right, we are gonna take a very quick break and when we are back, why Alec Murdoch's double murder convictions were just overturned in South Carolina. That's next in the headlines. Stay with us.

[Willie Geist]

Hey guys, Willie Geist here reminding you to check out the Sunday Sit down podcast. On this week's episode, I get together with two time Oscar winner Sally Field to talk about a career that has spanned Norma Ray Lincoln and now her latest movie based on a big best selling book. You can get our conversation now for free wherever you download your podcasts.

[Kate Snow]

Hi, it's Kate Snow, NBC News anchor, host of the podcast the Drink. This month I'm grabbing a matcha latte with comedian Taylor Tomlinson. The drink is always about someone's journey to the top, and Taylor's story is remarkable. She tells us all about her unlikely path from performing in churches all the way to headlining her own Netflix specials like her latest Prodigal Daughter. And she opens up about her religious upbringing, what drew her to stand up and how she feels when she gets on that stage. And hope you'll listen and follow the drink wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Yasmin Desugim]

And we are back with here's the scoop from NBC News. Let's get to some headlines. The South Carolina Supreme Court has overturned disgraced attorney Alec Murdoch's double murder convictions and life sentence, ordering a new trial for the killings of his wife and his son. Murdoch, part of a prominent South Carolina legal Dynasty, was convicted two years ago in the 2021 killings of his wife, Maggie, and their 22 year old son, Paul. He pleaded not guilty. The state's top court ruled that Murdaugh was denied his right to a fair trial and accused Colleton County Clerk Rebecca Hill of suggesting to jurors they could not trust Murdaugh's testimony. South Carolina's attorney general vowed to, quote, aggressively seek to retry Murdoch as soon as possible. ALEC Murdoch's legal team celebrated the ruling, saying in a statement they, quote, look forward to a new trial. Louisiana Republican lawmakers voted Wednesday to advance a new congressional map that would drop one of the state's two majority black districts and potentially add another Republican seat in the House. The new congressional map still needs to pass a full vote in the state Senate and receive approval from the state House. The vote comes after the Supreme Court struck down Louisiana's previous congressional map last month. In a 6 to 3 decision, the justices declared it an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, in essence weakening the Voting Rights Act. Democrats have warned that a third of the Congressional Black Caucus could be wiped out as well. Caucus members are strategizing on how to fight back, including in the courts and on the campaign trail, where they're going to focus on turning out black voters for the November midterms. Georgia Secretary of State and Republican candidate for governor Brad Raffensperker says there was a, quote, active threat near one of his planned campaign. A campaign spokesperson said in a statement that the Clay County Sheriff's Office in Mississippi received a multi page manifesto with Raffensperger's photo on the front page and boom. Written across his face. Officials had earlier found a suspicious object at Middle Georgia Regional Airport where Raffensperger had a planned campaign stop. Local, state and federal authorities, including the FBI, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Raffensperger has faced numerous threats since he refused President Trump's demand to, quote, find more votes in Georgia following the 2020 election. A federal appeals court is pausing President Trump's $83 million defamation payment to writer E. Jean Carroll until the Supreme Court weighs in. President Trump has asked the justices to review the 2023 civil verdict that held him liable for sexually abusing and then defaming Carroll. The appeals court granted President Trump's request to pause on the condition that he raises the bond by over $7 million to account for interest. Carol's attorney said they are, quote, pleased with that condition, which would increase the amount owed to her. Representatives for President Trump did not immediately respond to requests for a comment on the appeals court decision. And finally, so it may not be time to dust off the acid wash jeans and the shoulder pads because, let's be honest, they were not great. But it seems like the 1980s are coming back in a very big way. I am actually talking about hacky sacks. It turns out the young kids, the cool kids, whatever you want to call them, they're tossing around those little crocheted beanbags at lunchtime again. And they're circling up and pulling off fancy tricks. But instead of it just being for their friends, they're doing it online, of course, on social media, on TikTok, and on Instagram going viral. And the Soundtrack to this 80s revival, it's weird Al Yankovic.

[Janice McUfrer]

Get yourself an egg and beat it.

[Yasmin Desugim]

He'll be the subject of a new jukebox musical on Broadway, and it's called Dare to Be Stupid. So I wonder if now they're gonna bring back mtv. I want my mtv. Sorry, that was terrible. That is gonna do it for us at here's the scoop from NBC News. I'm Yasmin Desugin. We'll be back tomorrow with whatever the day may bring. And if you like what you heard, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. And you can also subscribe to our daily newsletter, the Inside Scoop. It is a deeper dive on the main stories of the day that comes out every weeknight straight to your inbox. You can sign up for the Inside Scoop as part of our paid [e-mail] we'll see you tomorrow.

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