Top Story with Tom Llamas - BONUS: Kristen Welker joins Here’s the Scoop, hosted today by Brian Cheung

Episode Date: July 11, 2025

Listen to Friday’s episode of Here’s the Scoop, the new daily news podcast from NBC News. In this episode, we have an interview with Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker on her recent phone call with President Trump.Click below to follow the podcast on your favorite platform and add it to your evening routine:Apple PodcastsSpotifyAmazon Music

Hey everyone, it's Brian Chung. You are listening to an episode of Here's the Scoop. It's a new daily podcast from NBC News that will help you get caught up on the day's biggest stories. Today, we have an interview with Meet the Press moderator, Kristen Welker, on a recent phone call with President Trump. Enjoy the episode. Hey, everybody, welcome to Here's the Scoop from NBC News. I'm Brian Chung. First off, happy Friday, everyone.

we made it. We're going to wrap up this week on the show with an update on the rough weather coming to the United States, the superhero, the box office needs right now, and an album that's turning us all into believers again. But before we dive in, let's start with a match made in News Junkie Heaven. I'm talking, of course, about Fridays and political roundups. That's right. We're going to start off today with a district dispatch because there's so much to talk about President Trump visiting Texas flood victims today, his administration doubling down on tariff talk, and rumblings that a major announcement on Russia could come next week. Admitted all, my colleague Kristen Welker, of course, moderator of Meet the Press. She actually got on the phone with the president, and she's here now to tell me about what she learned. Kristen, welcome. Hey, Brian, it's so great to be with you. Thanks for having me. Yeah, usually I'm in boxes on your show, but now I get to interview you on the pod.

I'm so excited. Well, listen, I like the chance to be interviewed by the great Brian Chung, and we always love having you on the show. No, really, you always help give. So much insight into whatever the economic news is of the day. So it's fantastic to be talking to you. No, it's always a pleasure. But I want to kick it off with just talking about what's it like to talk to the president of the United States, right? How many people have the opportunity to do this? How do you go about it when you know you have a phone call with the president? It's a really great question. Look, I think that what makes this president unique among a number of different factors, but one of them is that he interfaces with the press in a really direct. way that he takes phone calls from a number of different reporters. I am one of them. So I make sure that I'm always prepared with a set of questions. That goes back to my days at the White House. As a

White House correspondent, you're always ready to ask the president questions, whether it's this president or any president, because you never know when you're going to get that opportunity. In this particular case, obviously, this call took place against the backdrop of the horrific events that have unfolded in Texas this past week. And so that's where we started our conversation on quite frankly Brian what was a really somber tone and you got a lot of questions in you mentioned texas let's start there because the president is in curvil today what did he say about the situation there look i was struck by and we've heard this in his public comments throughout the week but this is clearly a horrific event that has really hit him as it has everyone across

this country quite deeply there are a number of accountability questions both for state and local officials. So I asked him about both. I asked him if there need to be better alert systems in Kerrville, because we've had those reports that officials have turned down the opportunity to upgrade and improve their alert systems. And he said, yes, in retrospect, he thinks there should be at the same time. He said, no one could have anticipated this. This is an event that takes place once in every 200 years. I asked him about some of the accountability questions for his DHS, Secretary Christine Nome, who, by the way, will be on Meet the Press this Sunday. And he said, look, he thinks she's doing a great job.

So we'll continue that conversation with Secretary Nome, but really a somber start to the call. Let's move on to the topic of tariffs, because that is so timely. The latest is that he's sending out these letters to countries with tariff rates ahead of this new August 1 deadline. He's been doing that on a rolling basis throughout this week. Brazil getting a lot of attention for that 50% rate, the latest being Canada. He has said he would send a letter to the European Union as well.

What did you learn about the latest on the tariff front? Well, the president saying that he's preparing. blanket tariffs of up to 20 percent on all countries. That was before he made that announcement about Canada. And my big takeaway, Brian, from my conversation there with him on tariffs is that he is defiant in his tariff policy. He is not dissuaded by some of the criticism that he's gotten, some of the volatility that we've seen on Wall Street and on Main Street, that he is moving forward with his plans to impose tariffs. Of course, there was this goal of 90 deals in 90 days, we know that what we are seeing instead of these letters that the White House is sending

out saying, here's what your tariff rate looks like. So, of course, the question becomes, and this is where you come in and where you'll likely be joining me next week. DT's. Right? What is the market reaction? How does Wall Street and Main Street respond to these new announcements about the tariffs and just the uncertainty, I think, about whether they're actually going to go into effect. We've seen, you know, these threats go into place in the past and the president unwind some of them. How does the uncertainty, I think, play into all of this in the overall economy? As you mentioned, yeah, I'll be watching this like a hawk in the next few weeks.

But I want to ask you about the letters, because what struck me was the language that was used? Do you think the president wrote them? What even struck me was the way that they were signed? It says, with best wishes, I am sincerely, then his signature on there. I don't know anybody else that signs letters like that, Kristen. No, that's a very Donald Trumpian term, best wishes. You know, in terms of who wrote the actual letters, I wouldn't be surprised if he sat down and wrote them with his economic advisors. In fact, when I was on the call with him, his Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik was in the background there, talking to him throughout the course of at least the tariff section of the conversation. Was that a common thing where you'll be talking to the president and then there's a member of the cabinet just like, oh, hey, by the way. This was actually unique.

Typically, it's just the president every once in a while. You know, you can hear one or two people in the background, but the fact that you had a Commerce Secretary there, that was certainly, I think, one of the unique factors of this call. But, Brian, that goes to your initial question. Each call is unique in and of itself. Let's shift now to foreign policy and the war in Ukraine. He teased some sort of announcement next Monday related to Russia.

He did. And Brian, I tried to get the details of the announcement. The significant thing was that he did tease there will be an announcement on Monday. He even gave me a little bit of a time frame. He said sometime between 11 a.m. and 12 noon. He anticipates he's going to make this announcement. I said, okay, Mr. President, what's the announcement? Are you about to announce sanctions against Russia?

He would not say that. I said, are you about to announce some type of progress in terms of talks towards a ceasefire? Wouldn't bite on that. I said, can you give me a sense of which? direction this announcement is going in. Wouldn't bite on that either. I've been working my sources behind the scenes. I'm still trying to get the details of what this announcement is going to be. But here's what I would say. He reiterated his disappointment with Russia, with Vladimir Putin. I mean, it was out in full view this week when he accused Vladimir Putin of feeding

the U.S. a lot of quote-unquote BS. He actually used the term underscoring, I think, his level of anger and frustration with the fact that Russia continues to bombard Ukraine over and over again. The other big takeaway, I think, from the call, Brian, is that the president telling me for the first time that the United States has struck what the president is calling a deal with NATO to send weapons basically to Ukraine through NATO. NATO, he says we'll pay for it 100%. He says NATO will be responsible for allocating the weapons. And this is significant. We had not heard this It was apparently discussed when President Trump met with NATO, but the president telling me he struck the deal just moments before our conversation.

So quite significant, we're trying to report the details of that out. What will that look like and how will that play out? And is this a way of really trying to mitigate some of the backlash from the MAGA base, which was enraged with the fact that he would send weapons to Ukraine? Because, of course, the president ran on a campaign promise to end the war in Ukraine. that hasn't happened. And again, the president seeming to grow increasingly frustrated with Russia in this entire process. And while I've got to ask about some of these reports today about mass layoffs at the State Department, what's the vibe like down there with specifically

the State Department? Well, I think if you talk to people who cover that beat, they will say that there is, of course, with any type of mass layoff situation, a fair amount of consternation and concern and what will it mean, in fact, for the duties that the State Department carries out. Now, of course, State Department officials, the Secretary of State say that this is part of a broader overhaul and restructuring that is needed. But of course, with any type of change like this, I think there's going to be a lot of scrutiny to see if the State Department and these various different departments within it can continue to carry out their duties without any significant setbacks. And also remember Secretary Rubio wearing multiple hats,

National Security Advisor, Secretary of State, something that we haven't seen for decades. So a lot of scrutiny on him, too, as he carries out these multiple duties. Not unlike us here at NBC where we host multiple shows sometimes, right, Kristen Welker? That is very true, Brian. The one, the only Kristen Welker, moderator of Meet the Press. We'll see you on Sunday. Thanks, Brian. It's such a great conversation. It's always great to be with you. you. Thanks so much. All right, well, that's enough from Washington.

We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back with some headlines. Welcome back to Here's the Scoop. Let's get to some headlines on this Friday afternoon, starting off with Texas where President Trump and the First Lady made a visit to Curville and offered support following those deadly floods. That support could be critical as storming. will return tomorrow. There are heavy downpours expected that could yet again raise the risk of floods in the Texas Hill country. The weather could also be a problem in New Mexico, where thunderstorms are possible in Rio Doso, where flash floods hit hard earlier this week. Across the Midwest and

South, millions are bracing for more severe weather as well. Tornadoes from Missouri to Michigan and flash floods with alert stretching across Nebraska and Iowa. It's been an ugly situation nationwide weather-wise this week. Storms yesterday triggered over 9,000 delays. and 700 flight cancellations with Chicago, Charlotte, and Miami among the cities that were hardest hit. A senior Israeli government official told reporters last night that Iran may still recover enriched uranium buried at its Isfahan nuclear site, despite those recent U.S. bunker buster strikes. While the Pentagon claimed the June 22 attack obliterated key facilities, Israeli intelligence believes some material may have actually survived underground. Israel is warning that any Iranian attempt to recover the uranium would be detected and could spark a military response. Israel's statement underscores the growing concern over Iran's nuclear resilience, as well as the limits of the U.S. strikes effectiveness.

And a change here because I think it's finally clocking to you guys that he's standing on business. For those of you that are not up on the latest internet culture, that's a reference to pop star Justin Bieber. The Beeb's shocked fans with a surprise album release after teasing it just two days ago. That was the chorus of his single Swag. The album of the same name is his first new studio album in four years, and it's also Bieber's first album since selling his music catalog for a reported $200 million. And are you ready to feel old because I am? Bieber is no longer that teenage heartthrob that made all the middle schoolers swoon.

He's a married man to his wife, Haley, and a father now. Bieber addresses actually many of the rumors that are swirling around his personal life. He does so through his music. So what is he singing about this time? Hit play right after we rap, of course. And that music can only mean one thing. thing. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's a Superman reboot. And it hits theaters today. Director James Gunn's $225 million revival isn't just a movie. It's D.C. Studios Hail Mary,

with box office expectations soaring past $500 million. Half a billion dollars. The pressure is on for this man of steel to save a flailing franchise. But controversy, it came faster than a speeding bullet, including accusations of the movie being too woke because of Gunn's take. He's been leaning into Superman's immigrant roots, and that sparked MAGA backlash, but Gunn's response to his critics, screw him. Now, the question isn't just, can Superman fly? It's if he can unify a fandom and reboot an empire all before his cape hits the ground. Well, that's going to do for all of us at the Daily Planet.

I mean, here's the scoop from NBC News. but before we go, want to acknowledge the team. Our show is produced by Amanda Llewellyn, and associate producer Kathleen Rocco. Katie Lau is our audio engineer. A supervising producer is Katie Remchen. Anne-Marie Fertoli is our executive producer. Our head of audio production is Bryson Barnes.

Alexa Danner is our head of audio. Shalani Sharma is the senior executive producer, and Catherine Kim is the executive vice president of editorial. Have a great weekend, everyone, and we'll see you on Monday. Signing off from 30 Rock. I'm Brian Sean. Thank you.