We’re starting with a political firestorm at the Pentagon. Defense officials have launched a misconduct investigation into Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly over a video he and other former service members recorded, urging people in the military and intelligence community not to carry out illegal orders from the Trump administration. Kelly, a retired Navy pilot, appears alongside several Democrats with national security backgrounds, and the question now is whether their message crossed an ethical line. NBC News senior national security correspondent Courtney Kube joins host Yasmin Vossoghian. And President Donald Trump has launched the “Genesis Mission,” a new executive order meant to turbocharge America’s artificial intelligence capabilities. The plan ramps up federal computing power, opens access to massive government data sets and pushes AI research toward real-world deployment. NBC News reporter and writer Jared Perlo joins the pod to break down what’s in it and what it means for the U.S. tech race.

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A federal judge has thrown out the criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, a sweeping setback for what critics have described as an effort by the Trump administration to use the justice system for political payback. Legal affairs reporter Gary Grumbach joins host Yasmin Vossoughian to break down one of the sharpest judicial rebukes yet of the administration’s prosecution strategy. And President Trump’s self-imposed Ukraine peace deadline is fast approaching, as U.S. and Ukrainian officials say they’re making headway in Geneva, despite Russia’s continued absence. NBC News’ chief foreign affairs correspondent Richard Engel is on the ground in Switzerland, tracking the negotiations.

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New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is heading to Washington, D.C., on Friday for a face-to-face with President Donald Trump, an unlikely matchup after months of trading insults. NBC News reporter Allan Smith joins host Yasmin Vossoughian to break down what’s at stake and whether this meeting is about policy or pure political theater. And we’re digging into the latest wellness whisper: microdosing GLP-1s. You’ve heard celebrities like Andy Cohen and Rebel Wilson talk about it. Now, everyday users are trying tiny doses of drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy for “appetite tuning” and weight control. Telehealth companies like Noom and Ro are helping fuel the trend by making access easy. NBC News correspondent Anne Thompson joins the pod after speaking with someone who’s doing it.

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We’re breaking down the September jobs report: The U.S. added 119,000 jobs, stronger than expected and a sign the economy was still hiring steadily before the government shutdown. But a closer look from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows a more uneven picture, with a labor market starting to wobble amid high-profile layoffs at major companies. Wall Street? Pure chaos. Stocks surged, plunged and snapped back as investors tried to make sense of it all. Host Yasmin Vossoughian is joined by Caleb Silver, the editor in chief at Investopedia and the chief business editor at People Inc. Our new NBC News–Bloomberg Law documentary is out, exposing what happens when women give birth behind bars. We spoke with mothers who delivered alone on jail cell floors, screamed for help that never came and, in one case, delivered a stillborn baby into a toilet. Others didn’t survive their pregnancies at all. These stories reveal a devastating reality inside U.S. jails and prisons, where basic care and dignity are often denied. Yasmin is joined by NBC News staff writer Jon Schuppe, her reporting partner, to break down what they uncovered.

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The Trump administration is quietly moving to carve up the U.S. Education Department, shifting key responsibilities to agencies like Labor and State in a renewed push toward its long-standing goal of dismantling the department altogether. It’s a striki ng look at how far the administration is willing to go to bypass Congress to make it happen. Host Yasmin Vossoughian is joined by Erica Meltzer, national editor at Chalkbeat, to unpack what this maneuver means for students, schools and federal oversight. Meanwhile, Iran is staring down its worst water crisis in decades, and the warning signs are plastered across Tehran. New government posters read: “There is a water shortage! It’s fall and there is still no rain.” With reservoirs drying up and no relief in the forecast, officials are raising the unthinkable possibility of evacuating the capital city of 10 million people. NBC News producer Amin Khodadadi joins us from Tehran to break down how the crisis got this bad and what happens next.

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The House votes on a bill that would force the Justice Department to release all its records on Jeffrey Epstein. It’s expected to pass, a major win for the bipartisan group pushing for transparency. So, what would this bill require? And what could surface in any new document dumps? NBC News National Law Enforcement & Intelligence Correspondent Tom Winter joins host Yasmin Vossoughian to discuss his reporting. And President Donald Trump hosts Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House. A striking reset after a CIA assessment tied the crown prince to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The U.S.-Saudi relationship appears to be warming under Trump, with LIV Golf ties, reported Trump Organization real estate talks and the sale of F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia, despite the Pentagon’s warning that China could gain access to the tech, all as the White House looks to Riyadh for help shaping Gaza’s reconstruction. White House correspondent Monica Alba joins the pod.

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President Trump is now calling for the full release of the long-sealed Jeffrey Epstein documents, saying, “We have nothing to hide,” and urging Congress to make the files public. It’s a sharp reversal from years of efforts to keep parts of the record under wraps. So, why now? NBC News Now’s Hallie Jackson joins host Laura Jarrett to break it all down. And we’re in Charlotte, North Carolina, where federal immigration raids ramped up over the weekend. Border Patrol agents began making arrests across the city, with the Department of Homeland Security saying the operation is meant to “ensure Americans are safe and public safety threats are removed.” But tense videos of agents clashing with residents are sparking fear in immigrant communities. Some local business owners say they plan to close their doors to protect their neighbors. We’ll get into what’s behind this ramp-up and what it means for families on the ground with NBC News correspondent Ryan Chandler.

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Some big news out of Wall Street this morning: Longtime Walmart CEO Doug McMillon is stepping down. The 59-year-old has led the company since 2014, overseeing its transformation from a budget big-box chain into a true e-commerce powerhouse and helping drive Walmart’s stock up roughly 300% along the way. It’s a major shake-up at the nation’s largest private employer. Host Yasmin Vossoughian brings in NBC News senior business correspondent Christine Romans to break down why McMillon is leaving now, what it means for the retail giant and how the markets are reacting. And six months into his historic papacy, Pope Leo XIV is turning to Hollywood, inviting Spike Lee, Cate Blanchett, Judd Apatow and others to the Vatican this weekend. The church says he wants to “deepen dialogue with the World of Cinema” and tap into the power of storytelling to advance human values. NBC News correspondent Anne Thompson joins the pod to explain.

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Today on the pod, we’re heading to Europe, where NATO countries are reporting a spike in mysterious drone sightings over airports and other sensitive sites. It’s a trend that has only accelerated since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Now, European leaders are pushing for a coordinated “drone wall,” a new defensive shield designed to protect their airspace and critical infrastructure. We break down what’s driving the surge, what this wall would look like, and why it matters right now. NBC News foreign correspondent Raf Sanchez, who visited a factory that makes defensive drones, joins host Yasmin Vossoughian. And new data shows just how hard it’s gotten to break into the housing market. The median age of a first-time homebuyer has reached a record high of 40 years old, according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors. President Donald Trump’s latest idea to tackle affordability? A 50-year mortgage. Supporters say it could shrink monthly payments, while critics argue it would create new problems. NBC News business and data correspondent Brian Cheung talks numbers.

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Jeffrey Epstein mentioned President Donald Trump in multiple emails to his associate Ghislaine Maxwell and a journalist, at one point writing Trump “knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop,” according to messages newly released by House Democrats. The House Oversight Committee made public three email chains sent between 2011 and 2019, which they say came from Epstein’s estate as part of their broader investigation into his network. Republicans on the committee later  released what they say are 20,000 additional pages from Epstein's estate. Host Yasmin Vossoughian is joined by chief Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Nobles and senior national politics reporter Jon Allen to unpack what’s in these emails, what they could mean and what might come next. Meanwhile, the House is back after more than a month away and set to vote Wednesday night on a deal to reopen the government. The plan, crafted in the Senate, skips funding for Affordable Care Act subsidies. Lawmakers will vote on that separately, but Republicans want to tie any extensions to new abortion limits, setting up the next big fight in Washington. NBC News senior national political reporter Sahil Kapur explains.

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