B (3:08)

But the White House, in responding to your reporting, actually said that they had informed regional allies. They said, quote, regional allies were notified in advance.

A (3:16)

Yeah, but we're confident that they did not. We know that there was some. There has been a lot of back and forth communication, and we know that there was some communication with them about possible options the US could do moving forward. That included a passageway. The military has spent days, if not weeks during the ceasefire clearing out that passageway anyway, using drones and some robots and things. So that wasn't a secret, that that was something that was under discussion or consideration. What was the surprise to them was that when the President announced it and exactly how it was going to be implemented, they were not given a heads up on that. And one of the statements that we have, I mean, the officials who we spoke with and the sources who we spoke with were all on background, so they're not named, but one of them specifically acknowledged. Yeah, we found out after the President announced it.

B (4:02)

Walk us through how integral it is, how important it is for the United States to have access to Saudi's airspace, along with the air base in Saudi Arabia, in order to carry out something like Project Freedom, an operation like Project Freedom.

A (4:17)

And it's not just that. I mean, it's been hugely critical to the war in Iran, to the blockade, everything. So there's a big US Military presence in Saudi Arabia, but Prince Sultan Air Base is where a huge component of it is. And that has been really critical during the war in Iran. So it seems very simple, right? You can fly the fighter aircraft, you can fly the surveillance aircraft off of the aircraft carrier out of other areas, but you need to be able to refuel them in the air. You need some of the supports. And also just given the location of Saudi Arabia to the Persian Gulf, they want to have as many opportunities or options for military aircraft to land should there be an emergency, should something happen. It's a really important way station for the US military. But again, we know that the Saudis restricted this, but other countries in the region who also have a Big military presence were also frustrated by this and also may have been discussing the same option.

B (5:13)

What was the ultimate objection to Project Freedom? Was it that they were not informed, they were not looped in, or was it also that they felt as if possibly it could make the stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz even worse, considering what it's done already to oil markets around the world?

A (5:28)

They were frustrated that they weren't looped in, especially because it would involve their own aircraft and their territorial airspace being used. But it does seem like there was something more to that, that we're still trying to figure out exactly what it was. I mean, keep in mind, sort of the succession of what happened here. There was the president' announcement on Sunday. Then the US Military started this effort on Monday morning. It elicited a response from Iran that included attacks against these U. S. Flagged ships and even against at least one of the US Military ships they attempted to hit during the course of this. So regional allies who have been watching their infrastructure damaged and targeted, in some cases their people, their civilians being injured and killed by these attacks by Iran. You know, they probably wanted a security guarantee as part of this. And when the president announces an initiative and the US Begins it before it's been coordinated with these allies, then it makes a little bit more sense that they may have had some hesitation about this.

B (6:30)

So the president, as I mentioned earlier, right. He was not in the business of saying, well, we're pausing Project Freedom or stopping Project Freedom because I'm not getting coordination from our regional allies. Instead, he said, we're getting close to a deal with Iran. Mm. Iran is now, it seems, reviewing a proposal from the United States. There's been a lot of back and forth. The president says, we're not going back to the region until we actually have something concrete in place that we can end. End this war. What do we know about what is in this proposal and how close or how far the two sides may be?

A (7:05)

Yeah, I mean, there's been some reporting on it. Like, I personally don't have any, but there's been some good reporting about what this proposal includes. I think, at the end of the day, even if they can agree on just about every single piece of easing the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz and potentially even reparations, I would find it difficult to believe that the US Would. The Trump administration would agree to that. But it does feel like the issue of the nuclear program, they remain very far apart. We hear from the Trump administration that they still want all of Iran's highly enriched uranium and potentially some more of its stockpile, maybe as low as 20% enriched, turned over to the United States. I don't see Iran doing that, maybe turning it over to a third part, another nation or something, and then guaranteeing there'd be no enrichment. These are just things that have been a red line for Iran. So I don't know. We're not in the room during the negotiations, so we don't know what we don't know. But it does seem like they're still pretty far apart on that.

B (8:05)

If a deal is reached, how quickly does the Strait of Hormuz normalize? At what point does the United States have any plans to pull out US Military assets from the region if they're able to come to a consensus?

A (8:22)

I mean, I think we're talking weeks, if not months, before the situation in the Strait of Hormuzza. The backlog is cleared and things are operating the way that they were. I'll call that normal before February 27th or 8th. You know, there's no indication the US is gonna pull back their military presence from there. The one caveat to that, President Trump has shown that he gets very focused on one region, on one issue, and then two months later, we're talking about a completely different one. And I would just point to Venezuela was early January. Several weeks later, they were starting to move the aircraft carrier and additional troops into the Middle east for Iran. But for now, I'm not getting any indication and in fact, it's not getting a ton of attention. But during the ceasefire, the US Military has actually amplified their presence in the region. They have probably not double, but a significant amount more firepower and capability in the region than they did when the ceasefire began. And because of that, if, in fact the President were to decide to restart major combat operations in Iran, I would expect that we would see the initial days of it to be the airstrikes, potential strikes from longer range systems like ships, at a higher level than even at the very end of the war, which was a big, very, very high level of strikes.

B (9:41)

Courtney Kuby, as always, thank you.

A (9:44)

Thanks.

B (9:47)

All right, we are going to take a very quick break. And when we are back, officials are racing to contain a hantavirus outbreak. Could this be the next epidemic? Stay with us. And hey, while you're waiting, why not subscribe to Here's a Scoop wherever you listen. And if you already do, thank you. You should, though, leave us a review while you're there. Like Mama Rob's who wrote this? I never miss an episode. They went on to say that they appreciated my quote. And this is what Mama Rob said. Impeccable reporting, wit and humor. Why, thank you, Mama Robs. Love you, too. Be like Mama Robs, everybody. Leave us a review. We'll be right back.

A (10:27)

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C (10:57)

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. Hope you'll listen and follow the Drink wherever you get your podcast.

B (11:34)

And we are back with here's the scoop from NBC News. So officials are racing to contain a deadly outbreak of hantavirus linked to a luxury cruise ship off the coast of Africa. Three passengers have already died, and at least five more have been infected. The other 140 passengers on the ship are being held in isolation as officials monitor them for symptoms. Now, part of the concern here is is that this is an extremely rare strain of the virus called the Andes strain. It is the only known type of the disease that spreads from person to person. And the incubation period for the virus can be as long as six weeks, which is a problem because dozens of passengers have already disembarked the ship and traveled across the world. So now health experts in the United States and around the world are launching urgent contact tracing operations to track how far this virus has actually spread. For that, I wanna bring in NBC News foreign correspondent Raf Sanchez, who's been tracking this for us. Hi, Raf.

D (12:35)

Hey, Asma.

B (12:36)

All right, let's talk about this ship. Because it was marooned off the coast of Africa, it's now en route to the Canary Islands. How did we get here?

D (12:46)

So it is a long story, and it is a long voyage. They set off back on April 1, down in South America from Argentina. They've been making way north up through the Atlantic. And then on April 11, a passenger died on the ship. There's actually a video of the captain coming out and announcing it to the rest of the passengers. This is my sad duty to inform you that one of our passengers suddenly passed away last night. And he says, look, this is sad, this is tragic, but this is not something anyone needs to worry about. It all appears to be natural, circumst. So they continue sailing for another 12 days or so. And it's only at that point that it starts to become clear that other people are getting sick. The partner of the person who died is also starting to become unwell. And so on April 24, 30 people get off of the ship on an island called St. Helena. And, and one person, a older Dutch woman, flies from St. Helena to South Africa. She seems okay, but then she gets on a plane from South Africa to go back to the Netherlands and she starts to show pretty serious symptoms. So at this point, people don't know what it is, they don't know what she's sick with, but they know she's really sick. So she is taken off the plane. She then dies in South Africa. Another passenger dies later on. And so at this point, you have three people dead, all directly connected to this cruise ship, and you got alarm bells going off everywhere.

B (14:39)

What about the status of the people that are on board right now?

D (14:42)

So there's about 140 people still on board right now. They are currently sailing from Cape Verde to the Canary Islands, which are a bunch of Spanish islands off the coast of Morocco. And we got an update from the World Health Organization that at this point, nobody on the ship is showing any symptoms. So that is good news. As you mentioned, though, the incubation period here can be six weeks. So no one can say with confidence at this stage that these people don't have the virus and are not yet showing symptoms. And we did hear from the World Health Organization, apparently morale is getting better as passengers know that they're heading to the Canary Islands. And hopefully, hopefully, hopefully they're going to get off that ship and be able to head home safely after that.

B (15:27)

What is the plan once they actually dock?

D (15:30)

Yeah, so that is the big question. The plan right now is that they get to the Canary Islands and then there is a careful process of screening. People are going to be tested. If they need to, they are going to be quarantined. And once authorities are confident enough that these people are healthy enough, they will be put on planes and they will be sent home. And so right now, the plan is that they will arrive in the Canary Islands Sunday, and we'll see the first evacuations Monday.

B (15:57)

You mentioned these kind of nearly two dozen or so passengers from at least 12 different countries that left the cruise ship on April 24. How are officials tracking all of these individuals and whether or not they potentially have the hantavirus or not?

D (16:14)

It's like almost kind of triggering to say the words. But contact tracing is back, and basically governments all around the world are scrambling right now to figure out where are the passengers who got off the ship and flew to various countries and who were they in contact with. Are there any causes for concern at the moment? In the US we have heard from state authorities in Texas, Virginia, Georgia, Arizona, and California who are all saying that they are aware of residents of their states who are on the ship who have now come back home. They say all of those people are being monitored at this point. None of them are shipped showing any signs of symptoms. But you multiply that by many, many, many countries all around the world, and you have just a very large universe of people who are of potential concern right now.

B (17:09)

I know that there's a flight attendant that's now being monitored as well. Was this flight attendant on the plane that was supposed to carry this woman from South Africa to the Netherlands that has now subsequently died?

D (17:21)

Yeah, exactly. So according to Dutch media, this flight attendant was working on that April 25th flight that this Dutch woman got on and was then taken off of when she was showing serious symptoms. The flight attendant is now back in Amsterdam. At this point, she is showing symptoms of something. We don't know exactly what. She's been tested for the hantavirus, and at this stage, we don't know whether or not she has the virus. And a lot is riding on this because if she were to test positive, that raises a lot of questions about other passengers on the plane. If it turns out the flight attendant is negative and this is something else, then that's really good news for everybody.

B (18:02)

Do we know with this particular strain of the hantavirus, the origin of this virus at this point and why it is now that this particular strain is able to be transmitted from person to person and how exactly it's transmitted.

D (18:17)

So we don't know for sure, but we have a pretty good working hypothesis, which is that this Dutch couple that was on board the ship took a day excursion in the southernmost city in Argentina, which is known for its bird watching. So they went out, they did Some bird watching. And apparently as part of this trip, they passed a pretty major landfill. It's kind of hard to imagine how there would be great bird watching around the landfill, but authorities are saying that there are rats at that landfill site that have been known to carry the Andes strain of the hantavirus. Often the way it's transmitted from rodents to humans is if humans come into contact with the feces of these rodents. And so the working hypothesis right now is that at some point when this Dutch couple was at this landfill site, they just stood too close to some of these rat droppings, and they think that is how they picked up the virus. And then from there, it seems to have spread from some of the people to other passengers on the ship.

B (19:26)

And, Raph, what are the symptoms of hantavirus?

D (19:28)

It presents, like, a lot of fevers, kind of headaches, lethargy. So part of the reason that people didn't immediately jump to the conclusion that was hantavirus is it looks like a lot of other kind of respiratory diseases. You know, it sort of presents like

B (19:46)

a major flu, and the mortality rate is quite high.

D (19:50)

Yeah, that's right. So for the Andes strain, it can be around 40%, which is really serious. You know, if you think about it, Covid was kind of 1%. The trade off is that Covid was so, so, so easy to transmit from one person to another, whereas hantavirus, we're being told, is pretty difficult.

B (20:10)

So you're talking about contact tracing, virus spread, mask wearing. Again, it's all very reminiscent of what we experienced during COVID Many of the early surges of COVID 19 began on cruise ships back in 2020. How are health experts, how is the World Health Organization characterizing this moving forward with so many people worried about a potential next epidemic and or pandemic?

D (20:36)

So the World Health Organization totally understands that that is the question on the minds of many, many, many people around the world right now.

C (20:44)

And.

D (20:44)

And they really took it head on at this press conference earlier, which was led by the Director General of the who, they are saying this is not the next Covid. They are pointing out that there was a hantavirus outbreak back in 2018 in South America. And you and I didn't hear about it because it was contained, the chain of transmission was broken. They got it under control. Obviously, what is concerning about this situation is you had a lot of people from a lot of different countries concentrated on one ship, rubbing shoulders, not knowing that the hantavirus was potentially spreading amongst them, and then they scattered to the winds. The four corners of the earth, literally. So you now have public health officials all across the planet really trying to catch up with where those people went, who they were in contact with. And the race is on right now. But the World Health Organization is saying that they assess that the risk to public health on any kind of large scale is low. They say we've dealt with this in the past and they are confident that if public health guidelines are followed that this will be a limited outbreak.

B (21:59)

Raf Sanchez, thank you.

D (22:01)

Thank you.

B (22:04)

All right, we're gonna take a very quick break. And when we are back, voters in the UK head to the polls. And Shaqu Kira just dropped the new World cup anthem. That's next in the headlines.

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B (23:53)

And we are back with here's the scoop from NBC News. Let's get to some headlines. A federal judge has unsealed a suicide note purportedly written by the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In this handwritten note. It is difficult to read, but it appears to say, among other things, quote, it is a treat to be able to choose one's time to say goodbye. NBC News has not authenticated the letter, which apparently dates to Epstein's unsuccessful suicide attempt back in July of 2019, about two weeks before he actually died. A spokesman for the Department of Justice said previously that it had not seen the letter and could not comment on something it had not seen. The DOJ said it had undergone an exhaustive effort to collect and release documents in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 or go to 988lifeline.org to reach the 988suicide and crisis Lifeline UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour Party is bracing for really big losses as Brits go to the polls on Thursday, casting ballots in thousands of local and regional elections. Bad results could actually trigger Starmer's party to oust him. After less than two years on the job, the prime minister's popularity has been on the downswing after his government failed to deliver promised economic growth. He has also been hurt by his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as the UK's ambassador to the United States. Mandelson was fired nine months into the job over his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 30 Former Ohio State football players have joined a class action lawsuit against the university alleging they were sexually abused by campus doctor Richard Strauss decades ago. The new group includes prominent former Buckeye players who went on to play for NFL teams that include the Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears. They join an eight year legal battle that has so far been led mostly by former college wrestlers. NBC News has reached out to OSU for comment, but did not immediately receive a response. The university and its former president have previously publicly apologized, quote, to each person who endured abuse at the hands of Strauss. A federal judge says the FBI does not have to return more than 600 boxes of 2020 election ballots it seized from an election hub in Fulton County, Georgia. In his order, the judge wrote that there was not enough evidence to prove that county officials rights had been callously disregarded, but he criticized how the FBI went about the seizure in a state that President Trump has falsely claimed he won back in 2020. The Fulton County Board of Commissioners chair said he disagreed with the ruling and that the county plans to pursue, quote, all available legal options. And finally so you remember how during the 2010 FIFA World cup you literally could not go anywhere without someone playing this song because this is Africa. So 16 years after waka Waka, Shakira is back. So that, by the way, is Die, die. I'm moving my shoulders and my hips as I listen, and it's the official song of this year's World cup, which kicks off next month. Shakira released a teaser on her Instagram today, and it's a collab with literally one of my favorite artists of all time, a Nigerian artist, Burna Boy. The full song comes out on May 14, and if waka Waka is a guide, that is definitely gonna be the song of the summer. All right, that's gonna do it for us at Here's a scoop from NBC News. I'm Yasmin Vestigin. 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 for a paid subscription@nbcnews.com. This week on Meet THE press, the war with Iran heads into its third month as gas prices spike. Is there any end in sight? Plus, we'll dig into the former FBI director's second indictment and the fallout over another assassination attempt this week on Meet the Press. Listen to the full episode now. Wherever you get your podcasts.