Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist

President Donald Trump announced that the United States has entered into an agreement to have majority control of 65 billion barrels of oil from Venezuela's reserves. Venezuela's interim president calls the deal historic and says it will have a significant impact on the nation's revival. NBC's Yamiche Alcindor reports for Sunday TODAY. Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker joins Sunday TODAY's Willie Geist to discuss whether discontent among voters over President Trump's handling of the war in Iran and gas prices may put red states like Texas in play during the midterm elections. NBC's Matt Bradley joins Sunday TODAY's Willie Geist to share an update after he, along with members of our news crew and a Palestinian woman, were attacked by settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the settlers of breaking the law and damaging Israel's standing the world. Warning: The incident was disturbing. A SpaceX rocket carrying NASA's new Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope blasted off the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center on Sunday morning. The new state-of-the-art telescope is more powerful than the Hubble and James Webb telescopes and is expected to revolutionize what we know about the universe. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, agreed to pay a multibillion-dollar settlement in a lawsuit that accuses the company of harming children through its addictive social media products. Meta also agreed to policy changes, including a daily limit on how long teenagers can use their platforms. NBC's Allie Canal reports in this week's Sunday Focus. As the world mourns the loss of Dolly Parton, Sunday TODAY's Willie Geist looks back at his conversations with the "Queen of Country" over the years. Dolly gave Willie a tour of Dollywood, discussed growing up in the mountains of East Tennessee, reflected on her impact in music and more.

The 2026 Labor Day weekend has been marked by extreme weather wreaking havoc on the roads and in the skies, where there were more than 4,000 delays at airports across the country. After seven days of deliberations, a Massachusetts judge said the jury in the Lindsay Clancy murder case was at a stalemate and declared a mistrial. The polarizing case gripped the nation for weeks, drawing people to the courthouse, many wearing pink in support of Clancy. NBC's Valerie Castro reports in this week's Sunday Focus on what's next for the case. The 2026 U.S. Open in New York is turning chaotic with spectators and social media influencers being rude and overtly rowdy. On Saturday, player Jakub Mensik paused his match to complain about a trash-talking fan in the stands. It comes as matches have been halted due to several disruptive incidents like loud social media influencers and a video creator using a bright ring light. NBC's Liz Kreutz reports for Sunday TODAY. In this week's Sunday Sitdown, the "Emo Cowgirl" Megan Moroney joins Willie Geist for a ride on the New York City Subway to her sold-out show in Brooklyn. Megan reflects on bursting onto the scene with her viral hit, "Tennessee Orange," finding balance in writing about her personal life and shares how her new album "Cloud 9" brings a new confidence to her music. 

The attacks of Sept. 11 have been a rolling tragedy in the quarter-century since the towers fell, with thousands more people dying from the air they breathed in and around the toxic pile at ground zero. As the country prepared to mark the 25thanniversary, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani released a trove of previously undisclosed government documents showing just how deadly the air was. NBC's Valerie Castro reports in this week's Sunday Focus. President Donald Trump is in Ireland where his visit has been upended by his surprise call for Ireland and Northern Ireland to reunite. The UK government said a ballot initiative for independence is not on the table and another British official said the president's "loose talk" is "deeply unhelpful." NBC's Kelly O'Donnell reports for Sunday TODAY. Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker joins Sunday TODAY's Willie Geist to discuss President Donald Trump's impact on campaigning for Republicans ahead of the November midterms elections and his message for voters to pretend he's on the ballot. "That's a message aimed at rallying the base but in order to win these more hard-fought races, these battleground states, of course Republicans need to turnout independent, moderate, those undecided voters as well," Kristen says. In this week's Sunday Sitdown, one of music's most successful and sought-after producers, Benny Blanco, joins Sunday TODAY's Willie Geist at the legendary Electric Lady studios to discuss his new book "F*ck Failure" about his persistence to make it in music, his secret to releasing hits with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Rihanna, and dish on his first-date with his now-wife, Selena Gomez. 

Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker joins NBC's Laura Jarrett on Sunday TODAY to discuss a new poll on how voters are feeling 44 days until the November midterm elections. Ukraine bombarded Russia with hundreds of drones sent towards Moscow, damaging an oil refinery and a residential area. The attack comes with Russia in the third day of their parliamentary elections, which comes with very little opposition to President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin. Tensions were high in Mississippi Saturday night when the controversial former coach for Ole Miss, Lane Kiffin, returned to Oxford leading his new team, the LSU Tigers. In the end, Kiffin's new team was no match for his old one. NBC's Aaron Gilchrist reports for Sunday TODAY. The Vanderbilt Commodores are celebrating after a dramatic comeback in the final seconds of their game against the North Carolina Wolfpack. NC State quarterback CJ Bailey looked to run out the final seconds until Vanderbilt's edge rusher Miles Capers knocked the ball loose and cornerback Cayden Daniels jumped on the fumble for a shocking last second touchdown. Artificial Intelligence has promised everything from increased workplace productivity and potential medical breakthroughs to the ability to transform our everyday lives. But the past month has exposed its dangers as well with one researcher warning there's more than one in ten chance AI could kill the human species. Industry leaders are now calling for a slowdown of AI development. NBC's Allie Canal reports in this week's Sunday Focus. Captain Carole Hopson's path to the airlines hasn't followed a traditional route. She spent a decade as a newspaper reporter, worked to help football players find off-season jobs at the NFL and was once the VP of training at Foot Locker, until her now-husband of 30 years gifted her flying lessons when she was 36. NBC's Laura Jarrett shares how Captain Hopson made her dream of flying a reality. Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone invites Sunday TODAY's Willie Geist to his home in the Hamptons for a conversation around his role in the series "Tulsa King," the "Rocky" screenplay he wrote that changed his life and his own underdog story, which he is now telling in an autobiography called "The Steps: A Memoir."