U.S. special envoy meets with Putin; RFK Jr. cuts mRNA vaccine funding

Summary

Here's the Scoop – August 6, 2025

Hosts: Yasmin Vossugin, Morgan Chesky, Brian Cheung
Guest Experts: Keir Simmons (Chief International Correspondent), Dr. Paul Offit (Director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia)
Key Topics:

1. U.S. Special Envoy's Meeting with Vladimir Putin
2. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Announces Cuts to mRNA Vaccine Funding
3. Top Headlines: Fort Stewart Shooting, Hiroshima Anniversary, Apple’s Manufacturing Investment, and the 10th Anniversary of Hamilton

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1. U.S. Special Envoy Meets with Vladimir Putin

Timestamp: [00:53] – [06:37]

Overview: U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in an attempt to negotiate an end to Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. The Trump administration has set a firm deadline for Russia to cease hostilities by Friday, threatening severe tariffs if unsuccessful.

Key Points:

• Meeting Dynamics:
  "Steve Witkoff was either on his own or relatively alone," noted Keir Simmons, describing the five-hour meeting between Witkoff and Putin, who was accompanied by advisors Ushakov and Dmitriev ([01:30]).

• No Breakthrough Expected:
  Simmons expressed skepticism about the meeting's effectiveness, stating, "That's another indication that this meeting has not brought a resolution," ([05:01]).

• Trump's Strategy:
  President Trump has emphasized economic pressure, aiming to reduce oil prices to economically strain Russia. However, implementing secondary sanctions against major economies like India and China presents significant challenges ([03:10]).

• Ukrainian Resilience:
  Despite Russia’s intensified military efforts, Simmons believes Ukraine will not capitulate, highlighting historical evidence that such bombardments often strengthen civilian resolve ([05:01]).

• Mutual Image of Victory:
  Both Trump and Putin are motivated to appear victorious in negotiations, complicating the path to a ceasefire. Simmons remarked, "They both have one thing in common, which is they both want to look like they won," ([06:23]).

• Outlook:
  Simmons confidently stated, "No, that's not gonna happen," regarding the likelihood of a ceasefire by Friday ([05:01]). He anticipates continued conflict unless a strategic breakthrough occurs.

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2. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Cuts mRNA Vaccine Funding

Timestamp: [08:05] – [16:02]

Overview: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a significant reduction of $500 million in funding for mRNA vaccine development. This decision has sparked debate over the future of vaccine preparedness and public health.

Key Points:

• Funding Cuts and Justification:
  Kennedy asserts that mRNA technology now presents more risks than benefits for combating respiratory viruses. He claims that mutations in viruses like COVID-19 render mRNA vaccines less effective ([08:21]).

• Dr. Paul Offit's Counterarguments:
  Dr. Offit challenges Kennedy’s position, highlighting the sustained efficacy of mRNA vaccines against severe illness despite viral mutations. "The vaccine continues to work," Offit states ([10:14]).

• Vaccine Development Speed:
  Discussing the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines, Offit explains that "Operation Warp Speed" facilitated expedited phases by mitigating financial risks for pharmaceutical companies, allowing mass production before trial outcomes were fully known ([09:17]).

• Safety and Side Effects:
  Kennedy addresses concerns about myocarditis, particularly in young males, acknowledging it as a potential side effect but downplaying its severity compared to virus-induced myocarditis. "The myocarditis induced by the vaccine was invariably short-lived, self-resolving," he notes ([11:46]).

• Impact of Funding Cuts:
  Kennedy argues that reducing funding jeopardizes preparedness for future pandemics. He cites the importance of previous mRNA research in developing the COVID-19 vaccine and warns against limiting advancements in related fields like cancer therapy and gene therapy ([12:57]).

• Criticism of HHS Leadership:
  Kennedy criticizes his own role, stating, "He [HHS Secretary] is still an anti-vaccine activist," and contrasts current decisions with past successes, such as the rapid response to SARS-CoV-1 ([14:42]).

• Conclusion and Implications:
  Dr. Offit emphasizes the detrimental effects of cutting mRNA research funding, labeling it "enormously short-sighted" and detrimental to scientific progress ([14:25]). This move may undermine the United States’ ability to swiftly respond to future health crises.

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3. Top Headlines

Timestamp: [16:04] – [19:11]

a. Fort Stewart Shooting

• Incident Overview:
  Five soldiers were shot at Fort Stewart, Georgia. All victims are stable and expected to survive.

• Suspect Details:
  Sergeant Cornelius Radford is in custody.

b. Hiroshima Anniversary

• Commemoration:
  Marking 80 years since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, 93-year-old survivor Setsuko Thurlow advocates for nuclear disarmament.

• Notable Quote:
  "Diplomacy needs to have greater attention and to solve the problem," reflects on the necessity of peaceful negotiations over nuclear threats ([16:42]).

c. Apple’s $100 Billion Investment in U.S. Manufacturing

• Investment Details:
  Apple CEO Tim Cook announced a $100 billion investment in American manufacturing under the Trump administration's American Manufacturing Program, totaling $600 billion over four years.

• Economic Implications:
  Experts warn this move could significantly increase product prices, potentially making iPhones more expensive by hundreds of dollars. Apple declined to comment on these speculations ([17:44]).

d. 10th Anniversary of Hamilton

• Cultural Impact:
  Celebrating a decade since its Broadway debut, Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton remains a cultural phenomenon, generating over $1 billion in ticket sales.

• Themes Explored:
  The musical addresses enduring American issues such as race, immigration, gender, and class through the lens of Alexander Hamilton's legacy.

• Notable Quote:
  "You want a revolution? I want a revelation. So listen to my declaration," captures the essence of Hamilton's enduring relevance ([18:25]).

---

Conclusion

In this episode of "Here's the Scoop," NBC News delves into critical international relations issues, domestic public health policy changes, and significant cultural and economic developments. From the tense negotiations between the U.S. and Russia amidst the Ukraine conflict to contentious decisions regarding vaccine research funding, the discussion provides a comprehensive overview of events shaping our world. Additionally, the segment highlights poignant anniversaries and major corporate announcements that influence both national and global landscapes.

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For more detailed analyses and updates, tune in to the next episode of "Here's the Scoop" from NBC News.

Transcript

[Tom Yamas]

Taking over the helm of NBC nightly news, a 75 year old broadcast. It's a great responsibility.

[Keir Simmons]

Good evening.

[Tom Yamas]

I'm Tom Yamas. You have to go out there to bring people at home closer to the store. Wildfires continue to be a threat. With that massive hurricane comes the massive response. The best reporters in our business know how to listen. And when you listen, you get the truth. For NBC News, For NBC News, I'm Tom Galmas. That's what we do every night, NBC.

[Keir Simmons]

Nightly News with Tom Yamas, evenings on NBC.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Hey, everybody. Welcome to here's the scoop from NBC News. I'm Yasmin Vesugin. On the show today, the Trump administration is making major cuts to vaccine research. Apple is investing $100 billion in American manufacturing. And 10 years on Hamilton is not.

[Dr. Paul Offit]

Throwing away its shot. That's all coming up. Up first, though, to Russia.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Friday is President Trump's deadline for Russia to end its war in Ukraine or else face severe tariffs. So today US Special envoy Steve Witkoff paid a visit to the Kremlin. He met with President Vladimir Putin to try and hammer out a deal ahead of that deadline. But the outlook is not great. Overnight, Russia hitting a civilian rec center in Zaporizhzhia. For more on this, I want to bring in our chief international correspondent Keir Simmons, who's been covering this for us.

[Dr. Paul Offit]

Hey, Keir, thanks for joining us.

[Keir Simmons]

It's a pleasure. It's great to join you again.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

So Kir Trump's Middle east envoy, Steve.

[Dr. Paul Offit]

Steve Witkoff just met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. What do we know?

[Keir Simmons]

Three hour meeting. The two of them shook hands and sat down together. President Putin sat down with two advisors, a man called Ushakov, another man called Dmitriev, who are experts on America and are Russian. Looking at the video from the Kremlin, it looks like Steve Witkoff was either on his own or relatively alone. It's his fifth meeting with President Putin. And at this stage, there's no real indication that there's been a breakthrough from it. According to the quick readouts from the Russian government, those advisors to President Putin saying that it was constructive, saying that the two men exchanged signals, but not saying that there was a major step forward that would bring peace in Ukraine.

[Dr. Paul Offit]

And then amidst all this, President Zelensky, Ukrainian President Zelensky essentially speaking with the president, President Trump, that is, and saying, listen, hit him where it hurts. You got to hit him where it hurts in order to stop this war. And that means sanctions. Right? So with this deadline of Friday of yes, we have to call for A ceasefire come Friday, and if not, I'm going to level sanctions against Russia. Oh, and by the way, these secondary sanctions as well, in which the President has already said he is leveling against India now 50% because of their oil imports.

[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]

Yeah, that's right.

[Keir Simmons]

That's right. And notable that President Trump has made this announcement around this meeting. So you would think that if there had been a breakthrough, that's not a step he would have taken. I think that's another indication that this meeting has not brought a resolution. Just wider context here. You can argue that what President Trump is pushing for is exactly what would potentially actually bring President Putin to the table. I mean, for example, in an interview this week, he said, if we can get the price of oil down, really down, then that will starve President Putin of the money that he needs in order to fight the war. The problem is just how do you do it? And the economic implications of secondary sanctions against India, against China, against Arab countries where President Trump just was, for example, the uae. I mean, the actual mechanics of doing this are really tricky. There's another piece of this as well, which is that just last week, President Trump said that around 112,000 Russians, Russian soldiers have died this year. And I think there will be those around President Putin who will be saying to him, we can't sustain this. We can't keep this going. So I think another aspect of this is the Trump administration is going to be betting that President Putin is going to have to step back, he's going to have to do some kind of a deal. He's going to have to find a way out at some stage. The trouble is, is President Putin, ostensibly by his public statements, doesn't agree with that. And having covered Russia for so long and this war throughout, I wouldn't underestimate Russia's capability to keep going even when it looks like it couldn't keep going.

[Dr. Paul Offit]

So you're speaking to the determination and the overall objective of Vladimir Putin that could keep him from abiding by the ceasefire or agreeing to a ceasefire come Friday. And the real kind of economic desperation of a lot of Russians as well, who are on the ground affected by this war every day and affected by the economic policies inside the country. So with all that being said, Kir, the over under for you that the ceasefire comes to fruition Friday.

[Keir Simmons]

No, that's not gonna happen. And I should just add that, of course, on the Ukrainian side, too, I think President Putin is calculating that his merciless bombardment of Ukraine, the ramping up of that assault by drone and missile will push the Ukrainians to capitulate. And history tells us that bombing campaigns like that don't do that, actually, that they make civilian populations more determined. I mean, I think there are clearly worries and questions and concerns in Ukraine that are shifting, but there isn't an indication that Ukraine is going to capitulate no matter how determined President Putin is. So there's no deal. I think on Friday, the only caveat I would bring to that would be it's possible that President Putin finds a way to offer President Trump something that enables President Trump to, to say that there's a deal or say it's worth extending the deadline or that you continue negotiating. Because President Trump does believe that he can persuade his friend or his once friend, Vladimir Putin, to agree to a ceasefire.

[Dr. Paul Offit]

Well, and they both have one thing in common, which is they both want to look like they won.

[Keir Simmons]

It's a great point. Absolutely right. And as so often with negotiations and with trying to end wars, it can be about how do you exit with everyone being able to say that they got something.

[Dr. Paul Offit]

Keir Simmons, thank you.

[Keir Simmons]

Thank you.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Coming up, the Trump administration is gutting vaccine development. So what does that mean the next time we're facing a pandemic? That's coming up next.

[Dr. Paul Offit]

We'll be right back.

[Dahlia Lithwick]

At this very moment, we are living through a series of cascading constitutional crises, rocketing up to the Supreme Court and shaking the foundations of American democracy.

[June Diane Raphael]

This is not a game of chicken where we back down from the Constitution. Like, that's not how this works.

[Dahlia Lithwick]

I'm Dahlia Lithwick, host of Amicus, Slate's podcast about the courts, the law, and the Supreme Court. I've been writing about SCOTUS and the law for more than 20 years. And each week on Amicus, we draw on that deep, deep experience to navigate these incredibly uncertain times. Search Amicus. That's Amicus to listen.

[June Diane Raphael]

This Supreme Court term isn't business as usual. It's a full blown battle over democracy. Justices are shattering precedent, grabbing power, and even turning on their own. It's messy, it's high stakes, and it's already reshaping how this country works. And our podcast, strict Scrutiny breaks it all down legally, clearly, and with just the right amount of side eye. New episodes drop every Monday. Subscribe and listen wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

And we're back with. Here's a scoop from NBC News. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Has announced funding cuts to the tune of half a billion dollars for mRNA Vaccine development. MRNA, as we all remember, was first used during the COVID pandemic.

[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]

But.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

But the research into this technology for MRNA vaccines has been going on for decades. Less than two years ago, the scientists whose work led to the development of the COVID MRNA vaccine won the Nobel Prize in medicine. But now Kennedy saying, after consulting top experts at the NIH and fda, HHS has determined that MRNA technology poses more risks than benefits for these respiratory viruses. I want to get into this. Let's bring in Dr. Paul Offit. He is the director of the Vaccine Education center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

[Dr. Paul Offit]

Welcome, Dr. Offit.

[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]

Thank you.

[Dr. Paul Offit]

If we remember the timeline of the development of the COVID vaccine, we went into lockdown in March of 2020. I believe the first shot in arms of healthcare workers was December of that year. If I wasn't mistaken, that's less than a year. A traditional vaccine takes four to five years of development. Why is it so much faster?

[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]

Well, so the typical production cycle for mRNA, once you have the genome sequence of the virus, it takes about three months to produce. The reason that this was so fast is one thing. Operation warp speed. And operation warp speed basically took the risk out of it for pharmaceutical companies. So now they could go right from phase one to phase two to phase three trials. They could mass produce the vaccine at no risk to them. When they were mass producing billions of doses of that vaccine, if they then found out that the vaccine didn't work in those trials, they. They could throw away the vaccine at no cost to them. That's why it was so fast. It was operation warp speed.

[Dr. Paul Offit]

RFK Jr in making this decision to cut half a billion dollars in funding to development of MRNA vaccines, as part of his justification of this decision, says essentially that when we've seen mutations of, for instance, the COVID virus, that the MRNA vaccine has not been able to protect against these subsequent mutations.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Is that accurate?

[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]

No. If you look at studies by people like Ruth Link Gallas at the cdc, she does retrospective studies looking at people who did or didn't get the MRNA vaccines in 2021-2022-2023-2024 to see whether or not they were more likely to be protected against serious illness than those who didn't get the vaccine. So the vaccine continues to work. So RFK Jr is wrong about the fact that the virus mutates away from recognition by antibodies induced by the vaccine.

[Dr. Paul Offit]

What about some of the side effects here? And I know, for instance, that myocarditis was a significant side effect, especially for young men that were getting the COVID.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Vaccine at the time.

[Dr. Paul Offit]

Myocarditis, of course, is the inflammation of the heart muscle.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Do the benefits outweigh the risks here.

[Dr. Paul Offit]

When we talk about the MRNA vaccine.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

And do we know if the side effects are connected to the MRNA technology?

[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]

So first of all, when you get a vaccine like the MRNA vaccine, you induce an immune response. When you induce an immune response, there are certain proteins that are made as part of that immune response. Those proteins cause symptoms. Fever, headache, joint pain, muscle pain, back pain. I mean, so that's just you developing an immune response. In fact, I'll give you a perfect example. A friend of mine volunteered for that early Pfizer trial because he wanted to be in the vaccine group. So he gets either vaccine or placebo, he doesn't know which. And then a day or two later he starts to have sort of low grade fever and sort of headache and he looked to his wife and said, yes, I got the vaccine.

[Dr. Paul Offit]

So what about myocarditis though, as a potential side effect that we saw significant.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Numbers of those, right?

[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]

Especially for boys and men between 16 and 29 years of age, myocarditis certainly could occur. So myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle. But unlike the virus induced myocarditis, the myocarditis induced by the vaccine was invariably short lived, self resolving, and really of little consequence. On the other hand, for the first time, couple years of COVID when we, our hospital was overwhelmed by that virus, we saw a lot of myocarditis in children that would cause them to go to the ICU and occasionally die. Both the vaccine and the virus can do it, but the vaccine to much less commonly and much less severely.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

So when we think about where we.

[Dr. Paul Offit]

Are now, with a cut of half a billion dollars in funding for MRNA research that has been ongoing for decades, by the way, this is not necessarily a new technology. What does that do for our preparedness when it comes to the next pandemic we may face?

[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]

Right. So I'll give you a specific example. I think the real hero in many ways of this pandemic, the COVID pandemic, was NIH, National Institutes of Health. Because what happened was in 2002, 2003, when SARS 1 raised its head in China, they started to make an MRNA vaccine against SARS1. And although SARS1 never came into this country, although it circulated in the world, we learned a lot. We learned about how to make an MRNA vaccine against that particular coronavirus. So when SARS CoV2 raised its head in 20, we were much better prepared by eliminating that money, especially regarding say the H5N1 vaccine, you're putting yourself in a more precarious position should H5N1 or bird flu actually become a pandemic strain.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

RFK Jr saying HHS determined that the.

[Dr. Paul Offit]

MRNA technology poses more risks than benefits for these viruses. What is your reaction to that?

[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]

I don't know what he's talking about. I mean, the MRNA technology was one where they could be scaled up very quickly. You were 12 times more likely to be hospitalized and die of COVID if you didn't get a vaccine than if you got one. In 2022, you were six times more likely to be hospitalized and die if you didn't get a vaccine than if you got one. So the vaccine was highly effective and it was remarkably safe. I think we paid a very small price actually for the efficacy from that vaccine because every medical product that has a positive effect can have a negative effect, sometimes a severe, sometimes a fatal negative effect. This was a highly effective technology for this virus. I think it can be a highly effective technology for germs, pathogens, and also can have a platform in cancer, a platform in gene therapy. So to withdraw all that money is just enormously short sighted and I think was a very bad day for science.

[Dr. Paul Offit]

When you hear the HHS secretary saying the COVID vaccine was the deadliest vaccine quote ever made, what does that mean for both science and for the messaging around vaccines in general is in this country for the future health of Americans.

[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]

You would have hoped that when he became secretary of health and human services, instead of serving children's health Defense, which is the anti vaccine group that paid him, that he would now actually serve the American public by giving us the kind of information that improves our health. But he doesn't. He's still an anti vaccine activist. Putting bad information out there that puts people in harm's way. First of all, in terms of the most dangerous vaccine ever made, I'm gonna go with the Qatar incident, which was a polio vaccine made in 1955. The way that that vaccine was supposed to is you take polio virus, grow it up, purify it, kill it with a chemical. The company that made it, one of the companies that made it, Cutter Laboratories, failed to inactivate that virus. So a couple hundred thousand people, mostly children in the west and southwest, were inoculated with live fully virulent polio virus. I mean, there were 40,000 cases of abortive or short lived polio. There were about 164 people who were permanently paralyzed and 10 were killed. It was probably the worst biological disaster in this country's history. I would make that the most dangerous vaccine ever made.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Dr. Paul Offit, you are a wealth.

[Dr. Paul Offit]

Of knowledge, as we would have expected on this. And we appreciate your time, sir. Thank you.

[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]

Thank you.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

And we should note Secretary Kennedy did say the money would be shifted to, quote, safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate.

[Dr. Paul Offit]

All right, let's move on to some headlines.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Authorities have given the all clear at Fort Stewart in Georgia where five soldiers were shot earlier today. Officials saying all of the victims are in stable condition and expected to survive. The suspect, Sergeant Cornelius Radford, is in custody. We're going to have much more on this [e-mail] it was 80 years ago today. The U.S. dropped the world's first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, killing tens of thousands of people. 93 year old survivor Setsuko Thurlow lost the 10 members of her family and has spent much of her life advocating for nuclear disarmament.

[Alexander Hamilton]

Diplomacy needs to have greater attention and to solve the problem. It's not, you know, nuclear weapons, but diplomacy, exchange of words and ideas.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Hiroshima honored the victims of the attack with a one minute silent tribute. Apple CEO Tim Cook is at the White House today announcing $100 billion investment in the U.S. it's part of a new Trump initiative called the American Manufacturing Program and will bring Apple's total investment in the US to $600 billion over the next four years, according to a White House official. It's all coming as Trump has been pushing Apple to make more of its products in the United States, which experts say could raise prices by hundreds of dollars, making your iPhone cost even more than it already does. CNBC asked Apple about the potential increase and they chose not to comment.

[Alexander Hamilton]

My name is Alexander Hamilton.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

The notes that have been ringing in your ears for the last decade. Hamilton debuted on Broadway ten years ago today. Lin Manuel Miranda's play instantly became a cultural phenomenon, selling out the theater night after night, bringing in a reported $1 billion in ticket sales. The story as old as America was revolutionary, telling the story of Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant coming to this place, striving to leave his legacy. As the plot looks back over 250 years, it feels like Americans still face many of the same inequalities that our founders grapple with issues of race, immigration, gender, class.

[Alexander Hamilton]

You want a revolution? I want a revelation. So listen to my declaration.

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Lin Manuel Miranda brought the unsung story of Alexander Hamilton into the 21st century through race conscious casting in new genres. It begs the question as we move through this moment, who lives, who dies.

[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]

Who tells your story?

[Yasmin Vasugin]

Speaking of stories, we'll be back tomorrow with much more of whatever the day may bring. Signing off, I'm Yasmin Vasugin with here's the scoop from NBC News.

[Jessica St. Clair]

Hi, I'm Jessica St. Clair. And I'm June Diane Rayfield. And we are two friends trying to survive the chaos and celebrate the joy that life throws our way. And we do it every week on our podcast the Deep Dive. Sometimes we dig into the deep stuff like how I communicate with my dead best friend. And sometimes we give bad advice based off a TikTok I saw. And we're not going to apologize for that. Absolutely not. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll hire a psychic medium. Join us, won't you? Listen to the Deep Dive wherever you get your podcasts from Lemonada Media.