← Here's the Scoop
Here's the Scoop
Will Kentucky’s MAGA Oust Massie?; Judge Limits Mangione Evidence for Prosecutors
00:21:49
Loading summary
Transcript35 lines
- [00:01]
A
This is a revenge tour that President Trump is taking part in, and so far, he's had quite a winning streak.
- [00:09]
B
Hey, everybody. And welcome to here's the scoop from NBC News. I'm Laura Jarrett sitting in for Yasmin Vazoukian. Today on the show, President Trump has successfully now primaried a growing list of incumbent Republicans who've defied him in Congress. Will Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky be next? Plus, prosecutors in Luigi Mangione's state murder trial will now be able to use key pieces of evidence against him. What impact could that have on his trial? But first, a House primary in Kentucky is shaping up to be one of the most significant races of this election season. On Tuesday, voters in Kentucky's 4th congressional district will choose in the Republican primary between incumbent Representative Thomas Massie and former Navy SEAL Ed Gowron, who was personally recruited and endorsed by President Trump. It's the president's latest attempt to unseat his political foes. Massie opposes the war in Iran, and he co sponsored that bill that required the Justice Department to release the files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. So will Kentucky Republicans hand the president another primary win? And what does his pressure campaign mean for the party heading into the midterms? For more now, I'm joined by Julie Serkin, NBC News correspondent who covers Capitol Hill and the White House. Hey, Julie.
- [01:29]
A
Hi, Laura.
- [01:31]
B
So you are in Kentucky right now reporting on this primary. What have you been hearing from voters on the ground there?
- [01:38]
A
Yeah, I'm actually in the same hotel where Thomas Massie will hold his election night, what he hopes to be his election night victory party tomorrow night. I saw them setting up downstairs. So we'll see what happens there in about 36 hours. You know, I actually was here. It's funny, in March, as I covered the president with my White House hat on, he held an event in the heart of Thomas Massie's district, not far from where I am now in Hebron, Kentucky. And it was really interesting. He went there to tout the economy, and yet he used it to essentially dunk on Thomas Massie for all of the things that you laid out there for voting against his one big beautiful bill, which has a lot of those tax benefits that he touted here, to also bring up Ed Galrain, who is a complete political unknown, to try and essentially put somebody that he handpicked in front of Massie's own constituents and voters. And this is a district, Laura, that is unlike others in the state in this country. There are a lot of libertarians here so this is really not only just the President versus some in his party. This is MAGA versus the Libertarian wing of maga. And it is really interesting in that way.
- [02:43]
B
So the beef dates back to Trump 1.0, but it has certainly escalated in this second term, not the least of which having to do with Massie's feelings around the Epstein files, shall we say?
- [02:58]
A
Yeah, he actually told me that it's the Epstein issue that he felt like was sort of the nail in the coffin. Massie. That is because he was the top Republican, the only one initially to join a Democrat enforcing Trump's own DOJ to release those files, essentially keeping the conversation going when Trump was trying to get everyone to forget. So that's definitely a key issue here, but also that one big, beautiful bill that you mentioned. You know, Massie has been in Congress for 15 years. He was inspired to run essentially after the terror attack in 9 11. He has always been against wars. He's never voted for foreign aid ever. And he's also never voted for spending bills. So one of the things Massie told me when I asked him, do you blame the President for the fact that you've dipped in the polls in the last few months? He said, I don't blame the President. I blame how they are mischaracterizing my votes. And I thought that was really interesting.
- [03:49]
B
Massie's got a fascinating backstory. This is someone who's got an engineering degree from MIT and also likes to drink raw milk. I understand. Like, he's a fascinating character. Tell me about his opponent. A former Navy Seal.
- [04:05]
A
His opponent is unknown. I mean, a political unknown. He ran for the State Senate, lost in 2024 in that primary, didn't run for anything outside of that. He comments on the radio occasionally, according to people close to him, about his experience in the military. He's a former Navy seal, an Army Ranger, and he's also a fifth generation farmer from Shelbyville. So his family has deep roots in this district. And I think that's what made him so appealing to the president. You know, the president has tried to kick Thomas Massie out before. Two years ago, four years ago, six years ago. I mean, this really goes back. This is the first time that Trump was able to find somebody like Ed Gallerin, somebody that could even come close to touching Massie on Election Day. And I think that's what makes this so notable. But it's not just isolated, right, Laura? This is a pattern. This is a revenge tour that President Trump is taking part in. And so far, he's had quite a winning streak.
- [05:00]
B
Julie. Speaking of that winning streak over the weekend, Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, he was ousted in his primary against an opponent backed by the president. Now, Cassidy voted to convict President Trump following the January 6 Capitol riot. What do you think it is that has got Republicans, Republicans just a little bit rattled about the president's influence in some of these primary races?
- [05:22]
A
I think in some cases they're kind of surprised. I mean, for a little bit there, we saw the president's approval ratings really dip, the lowest they've been in the first or second term because of the war in Iran, because of other factors, gas prices and so on. And yet earlier this month, you know, he managed to defeat the state lawmakers who voted against his redistricting push. They were popular lawmakers, by the way. Over the weekend, you saw Bill Cassid, who was the first incumbent senator since 2017 to lose his primary. He went down. He had 25 odd percentage points. His opponent, Julia Ludlow, had 45%. And then, of course, there was a runoff in June between her and John Fleming, who the president didn't endorse. But I think all of this is to say, Laura, the president clearly still has a firm grip on his party. And I think he's feeling really good going into this race in Kentucky. Massie is somebody he's watching the closest. But I certainly think what you keep seeing is a pattern of the president winning. And I think people are paying attention.
- [06:24]
B
Julie, several other states have primary races tomorrow. What other states are you watching?
- [06:30]
A
Yeah, so in Georgia, for example, I'm going to put my Senate hat on. I started covering the Senate as my first beat in Washington, D.C. jon Ossoff, man, that was such a win when he managed to flip that seat in Georgia. And I have two Democrats representing that state. That's a seat that Democrats really want to hang on to. Laura. So I Republicans are going to be fighting it out on primary night tomorrow. You have Congressman Buddy Carter, also Congressman Mike Collins vying for that seat. But you also have Derek Dooley, who's a former athlete. He's backed by Governor Kemp of Georgia. President Trump hasn't weighed in in that race. President Trump, as we know, likes to attach his name to a candidate that he knows will be successful. So I do think if you're reading between the lines, that's telling there. Alabama, there's an open Senate seat. Tommy Tuberville is running for governor. So you have Trump backed Barry Moore, that is running in that seat. Trump hopes he'll win. He's actually holding a telerally for him tonight. Also, he's holding a tele rally for Ed Gallimarie. And there's also a couple of seats open in Pennsylvania, including one that a Republican holds right now. Democrats are hoping to flip it. So a lot of race races scattered around the country that are important in terms of the midterms in November, that fragile Republican control, whether Democrats can sort of take back some of those seats. But most importantly, of course, I think the Senate is where Democrats feel like they have the most pickup opportunity. And so I think this will be really interesting to watch in the case of Jon Osso.
- [07:49]
B
Julie Serkin, thank you.
- [07:51]
A
Thanks, Laura.
- [07:54]
C
All right.
- [07:55]
B
We're going to take a very quick break. And when we are back, what evidence will state prosecutors now be able to use against Luigi Mangione in his murder trial? That's next. And hey, while you're at it, why not hit the subscribe button? And if you already subscribe, be sure to rate and review us. That will help other listeners find us, too. We'll be right back. And we're back with here's a scoop from NBC News. We got a major ruling today in the state murder case for Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. It's a partial victory for Mangione, who has pleaded not guilty to both state and federal charges after a five day manhunt. You'll remember police arrested Mangione in December of 2024 inside of a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania. His lawyers have been arguing that some of the evidence that was gathered during that encounter with police was obtained illegally through unconstitutional searches and questioning, including all the stuff in his backpack. Now, prosecutors always maintained it was all lawful, but today the defense is cheering because the judge has now ruled that prosecutors will not be able to use some key pieces of evidence in the bag recovered during Mangione's arrest. But the ruling is also a major win for the state as prosecutors can now use the gun and his notebook, which includes Mangione's alleged manifesto. So how could all of this impact both his state and federal trials? For that, I want to bring in NBC News senior national correspondent Stephanie Gosk, who has been following this case since the very beginning. And she joins us from outside the courthouse in downtown Manhattan now. Hey, Steph.
- [09:44]
C
Hey, Laura. I don't know about you, but I was a little surprised by this today after the federal judge's ruling on all of this.
- [09:51]
B
This ruling today ends this long running dispute over what evidence can actually be admitted in his state trial, as his attorneys have tried to keep out basically everything from his backpack, as well as statements that he makes to law enforcement there in Pennsylvania at the McDonald's. His lawyer said his rights were violated. The judge today saying, not so fast. Explain for us what the judge's reasoning was.
- [10:20]
C
So the judge said his rights were violated, actually, in that McDonald's, and sided with the defense, saying that that was an illegal search of the backpack in the McDonald's, that because they had removed the backpack from Mangione, it no longer. They could no longer search it legally. Now, the prosecution had said that there was concern for the officer safety, and that's why they were looking into it, that they thought there might be a bomb. The judge did not buy that argument. So anything that was pulled out of that backpack at the McDonald's in the restaurant is not going to be used, is going to be suppressed in the trial. Now, that backpack had a bunch of other stuff in it as well. And when it was brought to the police station, it was searched again. The defense wanted that search thrown out, too, and the evidence thrown out from that as well. The judge said, no, that actually was a legal search. And that is when they pulled out the gun. They pulled out the silencer. There's an interesting thing about the noise, however, Laura, because the notebook was removed at the McDonald's, but because the police officers didn't actually open it and read it, it's considered not really searched until it was in that police station. And that's going to be part of the trial as well. Those are huge pieces of evidence for the prosecutor's case, Laura.
- [11:33]
B
So the general rule is if you want to search someone's backpack, you got to get a warrant. However, you often see law enforcement make this argument about what they call exigent circumstances. And so they need to make sure that there are no weapons, there's no bomb in it. And so that's how they sort of get around the warrant rule. But here they actually get the advantage of this other sort of loophole, if you will, that when they get to the police station, they do the search. And because they were just going through the normal inventory, not actually, you know, searching it for. For evidence, then they get it in.
- [12:11]
C
Yeah, and there's a key moment, actually, in the McDonald's, Laura, with this backpack. So the backpack starts at Luigi Mangione's feet, and the judge seems to be suggesting if it had stayed there, it was within his reach, and he could therefore maybe get to it and use something in it against the Officers, then an argument could be made that they could search it for their safety. But what happened in that McDonald's is the backpack was picked up and removed from him so that actually he couldn't get his hands on it. And because of that, the argument that he could potentially get a weapon and hurt them with it from within the backpack was not a reasonable argument to be made.
- [12:51]
B
What about some of the things that he said to law enforcement staff because he was quite chatty at some point? What did the judge say about those statements?
- [13:00]
C
Yeah, so there was a delay, and this is what the defense really focused on. There was a delay in reading him his Miranda rights. Right. You know, the right to remain silent. He wasn't read those rights until 947. He was read the rights until the judge said anything. Anything that he said after that would be considered admissible statements, but the stuff before that wouldn't be, and that included them asking for his id, talking about whether it was fake or not, and that those. Those statements that he made before the Miranda rights were actually read are not going to be admissible. So, I mean, clearly, this judge is saying there were some missteps by that Altoona Police department inside the McDonald's that morning.
- [13:40]
B
So there's no. There's no question that the prosecutors would want to get in as much evidence as possible to try to make their case rock solid.
- [13:49]
A
Right.
- [13:49]
B
Because they have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he is guilty of the crimes that they say he is, and he's pleaded not guilty. On balance, how do you think their case has been strengthened or hobbled in this way since, at the end of the day, they get in the notebook and that's what they want. They want the notebook and they want the gun.
- [14:10]
C
Yeah. As a slightly more than casual observer of this whole process, Laura, they've got that alleged murder weapon, the ballistics, they say, match that alleged murder weapon, the notebook itself. But beyond that, the DA made a point, point of putting out a statement last week outlining some of the evidence that was not part of the backpack. And that includes DNA and fingerprints near the scene that they say they got off of items that Luigi Mangione had. They also have hundreds of hours of video of Mangione, they say, fleeing the scene, tracking his movements. All of that is going to come to play. And then, of course, there is the actual video of the murder itself. There is a lot of evidence here.
- [14:51]
B
Steph, what, if anything, is the defense team saying about this? Because up until now, they've had a pretty good streak of wins.
- [15:01]
C
Yeah, they do. They do. They haven't publicly said anything yet about, about this decision. But if you look at it on the whole and again, when you talk about the evidence that there is about them, they're facing two cases, a federal and a state case. They've had more multiple charges thrown out on both sides. So the state case had a terrorism charge thrown out. On the federal side, they had the Capitol charge, a murder thrown out. Now it's just two stalking charges. So they've had a few wins here. But they made this exact same argument in front of the federal judge about the admissibility of some of this evidence. And that judge, different court, different judge, different decision. And but this today, definitely a win. He still Mengioni has an uphill battle to be sure, I think here.
- [15:50]
B
So the judge in the federal case basically took a look at all the same arguments, as you say, and says all of the evidence by and large gets to come in. Now the federal case is set to go second in this dual tracking bizarro land that we find ourselves in, where he's being he's facing both state and federal charges, which is not unusual. But having them come close so close together can be complicated, especially for the defense. How do you think today's decision impacts all of this?
- [16:22]
C
Well, it looks like the state case is really on schedule now for that September 8th start date. And that will be when they start to select a jury. It's going to be difficult to see the jury in this case for for a number of reasons, not not least because Luigi Mangione has a lot of supporters out there. A lot of people know about this case. It's very public. That's going to make that tricky. The federal case is probably going to slide, People are guessing to the early part of 2027, maybe January. But all of that depends on the timing of the state case, too. It gets difficult that they start to overlap in this really significant way.
- [16:57]
B
Steph, thank you.
- [16:59]
C
You're welcome.
- [17:02]
B
All right. We're going to take a very quick break. And when we're back, a jury has now reached a decision in the battle of the billionaires, Elon Musk versus Sam Altman. But is there a winner? That's next in the headlines. And we're back with here's the scoop from NBC News. Let's get to some headlines. The Justice Department says it is establishing a nearly $1.8 billion anti weaponization fund as part of a settlement agreement after President Trump, his two sons and the Trump Organization have now dropped a lawsuit against the IRS over his leaked tax returns. The DOJ says the fund was created in exchange for President Trump and the group voluntarily dismissing their suit and that they would set up a process for hearing claims and providing restitution for other people who had suffered, quote, weaponization and lawfare. The president claims he was illegally targeted by the irs, though he, his family and his business would not be eligible for the fund. The establishment of the fund came ahead of court deadlines in the IRS case, which would have required the Trump administration to explain whether there was an actual case to be heard. Critics say it's an attempt to reward the president's political allies like January 6th rioters with taxpayer money. A spokesman for the Trump legal team says he settled for the benefit of the American people. Representatives for the Treasury Department and IRS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The World Health Organization now says an outbreak of the Ebola virus in Central Africa is a public health emergency of international concern. More than 300 suspected cases and 88 suspected deaths have been reported so far, primarily in Congo but also in neighboring Uganda. The outbreak has been identified as a rare type of Ebola caused by a different virus. Unlike the most common strain of Ebola, it has no approved vaccine or treatment. The WHO says the risk of a pandemic, though, is extremely low and that the outbreak is still a significant risk to the region. The battle of the billionaires is over. A jury in California has tossed out a lawsuit filed by billionaire elon Musk against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Musk had taken issue with Altman's decision to convert OpenAI into a for profit enterprise after the two co founded it as a nonprofit research center a decade ago. But the jury says Musk waited too long to bring his case. Elon Musk's lawyer says he hasn't decided how to proceed, but that he is reserving his right to appeal. Call it a power couple in a massive energy tie up. Nextera Energy says it will buy Dominion Energy, creating the world's largest regulated electric utility by market value. The all stock deal is valued at about $67 billion and it adds to a wave of consolidation in the US Power industry as utilities struggle to keep up with surging demand from data centers fueling artificial intelligence. The transaction is expected to close in 12 to 18 months, pending shareholder and regulatory review. And finally, Mel Brooks has been making us laugh for decades with movies like Blazing Saddles, Mungo Only Pawn in Game of Life and Young Frankenstein. It's pronounced Frankenstein and now the 99 year old comedy legend's legacy will be preserved for years to come. He's donating his personal archive to the National Comedy center in Jamestown, New York. Visitors will now be able to see storyboards of how some of their favorite routines came together, photos and even early drafts of ones like the 2000 year old man. And now, just like any viral TikTok sound, the words of Mel Brooks will live on forever. That's gonna do it for us at here's the scoop from NBC News. I'm Laura Jarrett filling in for Yasmin Basuk. She'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 subscribe to our daily newsletter, the Inside Scoop. It's 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 subscription@nbcnews.com.