Why the DOJ Can’t Take Over the Elections; What Netflix Shake-Ups Mean for the Streaming Wars

0:00You take it all the way to the end, but they make it very clear on the site, nothing is going to be sent for you. You are not charged for anything. You are not actually going to receive anything. Hi, everybody, and welcome to Here's the Scoop from NBC News. I'm Nazem Vesugin. So today on the show, you know when you're a little depressed, you're a little down, and you're like, I'm going to go online and I want to do some shopping, maybe buy a thing or two. But then the credit card comes and you're not so happy about your purchases. Maybe you could have done something else. Well, we are now talking about a new trend out of Korea that is letting you shop without those regrets.

0:37So we're going to get into that. Plus, we're getting into these Netflix layoffs that have been happening over the last couple of weeks or so. Growth has slowed at Netflix. So what is the plan to keep up with their rivals, including, by the way, YouTube and this new merger, of course, that is now called Skydance?

0:58up first though so we're less than two weeks away from election day and millions of americans have already cast their votes but now you have top democrats who filed a lawsuit in federal court to block the trump administration from usurping states authority in the midterms including trying to remove voters from state rolls and intimidating state and local election officials it's coming after the justice department filed a suit against california over mail-in ballot counting And NBC has learned from a Justice Department official that the DOJ is considering bringing litigation against more states around Election Day.

1:32So what does this actually mean for your ballot? For this, I want to bring in NBC News senior political reporter, Jane Tam. Hi, Jane. Hey, Yaz. It's great to have you. Great to be here. Okay, so according to a Justice Department official involved in this investigation, the DOJ has been looking into states that automatically send mail-in ballots to registered voters. What's going on here? Yeah, you know, once we saw the California suit, my first question was, okay, where else is the Department of Justice considering bringing these kind of demands? And as we recall, they basically said, gave 20 ,000 voters and said, sequester these ballots, investigate all these people.

2:11They could be non-citizens. We have very little evidence that they are indeed non-citizens. L.A. County has already looked into some of the names on the list and said, these people have places of birth in the U.S. Our records show that they registered just fine. Many of them have not voted. So we went to see where else are they doing this. The Department of Justice has told us that they're looking at other places with mail elections. You know, mail elections have long been President Trump's target. Sure, yeah. He loves to talk about voter fraud in mail ballots. Again, there is not evidence of widespread voter fraud in mail or, you know, in-person voting.

2:47But there are seven or eight states that have mail elections. That's where every registered voter is going to get a ballot. And clearly that's what the Department of Justice is laser-focused in because they're trying to find proof of voter fraud. They have made it clear that they're throwing countless resources against this, trying to find proof of the claims President Trump has been making. Has this been ongoing for a while or is this new? It seems to have been escalated recently. It's clear that a lot of agents in the Department of Justice have been assigned to find this and we're seeing an escalation.

3:19An escalation that I should say is very unusual. The Department of Justice typically does not take actions that could be construed as involving themselves in an election close to an election. What are Democrats worried about right now amidst all this? You know, Democrats are worried that the Trump administration is going to meddle in their elections, is going to try and stop certification. You know, reporters moments ago asked the attorney general whether or not the Department of Justice would try and get involved in the certification of elections. And let's be clear, the certification of elections is done by the states.

3:49The Department of Justice has absolutely no statutory involvement in that. And he said, you know, it's not our intention to improperly interfere, but I'm not going to rule it out, is essentially what he just said, saying that, you know, if something goes crazy wrong, we're going to get involved. Of course we would, despite the fact that states have long handled their own administration and certification of elections. We're two weeks out, I just said. Is there an expectation this could get settled before then? Now, this seems like a marker on the board, right? Right. So Democrats are going to go to they have got assigned to a judge that the Trump administration has criticized numerous times for ruling against them.

4:28It's going to work its way through the court system. This is likely to be a case that will, you know, further allegations of wrongdoing on behalf of Democrats. They will be added in. This is a case that's going to build. What does this mean for election results if these lawsuits are not settled by Election Day? Does it mean anything? I'm not sure it does. You know, the elections are handled by the states. You know, if a court in those states steps in and orders something, that can get involved. But the Department of Justice can't say stop the certification and the Democrats can't say stop them.

5:02They can only talk about the specific results. results. But this is so unprecedented that it's hard to talk about because there really aren't laws. The only laws the Department of Justice has for voting are they can step in and urge states that if they are unlawfully excluding voters, like what happened in the civil rights movement, they can urge them to put those ballots back in. They can use their authority to force inclusion, not exclusion. Those statutory limits are really there. You say urge. Are you using that word specifically because it's not something that they can actually enforce? Yeah, the states and the local jurisdictions run their own elections.

5:45It's in the Constitution. Yeah. Is there a worry that mail-in ballots would not actually be counted? I'm not worried about that because I've been talking to election officials and state officials who are intent on counting the votes that have been counted. It's a huge bar to deprive people of their votes. Is this seen at all by anyone on either side as the beginnings of calling foul on results of an election that may not favor one side or the other? You know, it certainly seems like the Trump administration is trying to cast doubt on this election before it has. We know what's going to happen in it.

6:24That's undeniable. Whether or not any casting doubt on it is going to have any impact other than a lot of noise remains to be seen. Jane Tim, thank you. Thanks, Yaz. All right, coming up, we're going to take a look inside the shakeups at Netflix and what's next for the streaming company in the rapidly evolving entertainment industry. And while you're listening to the ads, everybody do us a favor, hit the subscribe button. If you're already a subscriber, then help us reach some new listeners. Send this episode to a friend. We would really appreciate it. All right, I'll see you on the other side.

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8:01And we're back with Here's the Scoop from NBC News. So Netflix is the clear leader of the subscription streaming services, over 325 million subscribers worldwide. But there are some signs of trouble inside the stream room. Last week, the company laid off around 1 ,000 employees. They reshuffled the C-suite, ousting the chief content officer and two top film execs. And while Netflix's revenue is still growing, it's not jumping like it used to. So what does this all mean for the company's strategy, especially as they are positioning themselves against competitors like YouTube and the newly merged Skydance?

8:40For this, I want to bring in NBC News senior Hollywood reporter Rebecca Keegan. Hi, Rebecca. Hi, Asmin. Okay, so it's not like Netflix, right, is losing money, but revenue and user engagement have actually been slowing down. How did this slowdown in growth play into these recent layoffs that we've been seeing? Well, you know, it's interesting. This week, Netflix released its third quarter earnings report. Revenue growth was around 12 or 13 percent. A normal, mature media company would consider that good. But because Netflix has had periods where it's been absolutely on fire in terms of growth, I mean, quarters that were at 30%.

9:21This represents a slowdown, and it's a slowdown that's been reflected in their stock price, which is down enormously. Last year at the time, it was around $120. Now it's around$67. So these layoffs are the company obviously acknowledging that and engaging in what's become an increasingly important issue for them, which is, as you said, engagement. We're all still keeping our Netflix. We're paying for it like almost like a utility, like your gas, your electric, your Netflix, but we're not watching it as much as we used to. We're now starting to watch YouTube and TikTok and these sort of short form content more.

10:02So it's interesting because you talked about short form content like YouTube and TikTok, but I'm also wondering if this is like a quality issue when it comes to growth. And I only say that because, you know, if you look at, for instance, like Apple TV or any of the other streamers, you know, they seem to have more tailored content, whereas like Netflix has everything, right? And I'm wondering if that's a positive and a negative for them. Because you know you can always find something to watch, but whatever you watch may not always be great. Right. Are you going to love it? And if you look right now, they don't have as many of those kind of big blockbuster shows that make you feel like you have to watch.

10:47You know, there's not a squid game or something that feels like it's a big part of a big cultural moment. And that has been, you know, part of their strategy was to grow and to have something for everyone. That was part of what Bella Bajaria, the content officer who just got laid off, who had been there for a decade, that was really a mandate that she was given, was to expand. But as you say, is there programming that feels like a must-watch, that feels like, you know, real appointment viewing? And increasingly, it seems like, no, not really. I think the juxtaposition of it all is also interesting because literally earlier this year, Netflix was bidding to acquire Warner Brothers Discovery.

11:32they ultimately lost out to David Ellison and Paramount Skydance. So was that a huge blow to Netflix, kind of positioning them for this moment, for a drop in their stock price, for these layoffs? Well, Netflix would say they walked away when the price got unreasonable, as far as they're concerned, and when Paramount was just willing to pay too much for Warner Brothers Discovery. But certainly, acquiring that company would have solved a key problem for them, which is the lack of intellectual property. Warner Brothers has, you know, Harry Potter, Batman, Game of Thrones, these extraordinary brands that have been built over this 100-plus year old company.

12:16Netflix doesn't have that stuff. They've had to sort of make their own brands in house, and it takes a lot of time and a lot of investment. And it's frankly not as fast or as efficient as going out and buying a place that has it already. So on this week's third quarter earnings call, Netflix's co-CEO Ted Sarandos essentially said this is a quote-unquote reminder that we are a streaming-first service, right? This is our core. They do, though, have some pretty big theatrical releases coming up. There's the Brad Pitt film, The Further Misadventures of Cliff Booth. There is Narnia. That's a Greta Gerwig film.

12:54How is Netflix kind of balancing its desire to work with these A-list Hollywood actors, directors who want their movies in theaters with its ultimate goal of being a, as Serendos put it, streaming-first business? Yeah, that streaming-first theatrical tension has been part of Netflix from the beginning. And for a while, it seemed like their model had really won. You know, during the pandemic, when people couldn't go to theaters or wouldn't go to theaters, it just seemed like we were no longer going to go to movie theaters. Moviegoing has largely rebounded in the last couple of years. And increasingly, there is this sense among sort of A-list filmmakers and the entertainment industry in general that if a movie is really good and if it's really going to be part of a cultural moment, it needs a theatrical release.

13:45Netflix actually has done some theatrical releases. I think they'll have about 30 this year. Many of them are very small. It's just a short blip in theaters. One of the things that's interesting about the release they're giving to the Greta Gerwig-Narnia movie is that will be a seven-week exclusive theatrical run. That's really unusual for them. It's a departure from the model that Sarandos has really beat the drum on from the very beginning, which is that, as you said, streaming is our core. How is the other part of Netflix's new business doing it? What I mean by that is kind of these video podcasts, sports, something that they've invested of as of late.

14:20They're big competitors in that realm. It's YouTube. How successful are they now with investments in those mediums? Well, the live sports has been a useful way to get new subscribers. So people feel like, I got to watch that NFL game on Christmas Day. I got to have Netflix. And this is the only place I can see it. This is the only place I can see it. So it gets people to sign up. And once people sign up for Netflix, they tend to keep it. It has the lowest churn rate of any streaming service. But that doesn't necessarily mean that they're watching all the other stuff, that they're keeping up with the engagement.

14:54The video podcast turn and sort of bringing in this lower cost content was intended as a way to help with that. It was to get people watching Netflix during the day, which is when they tend to watch that kind of content, as opposed to just at night when you sit down on your sofa. I don't think we have enough data yet to know whether it's worked, but this is part of sort of Netflix throwing a lot of things at the wall to try and get people in watching it, you know, 24-7 or as many hours as they're awake. That was the line that Reed Hastings, the former CEO of Netflix, used to say, is that their competition wasn't other streaming services.

15:32It was sleep. That feels increasingly less so. Their competition is a lot of other media. Listen, sleep will win out, okay? Yes, yes. It's something we need. Rebecca Keegan, thank you. Thank you. All right, up next. Do you love the rush of online shopping, but you hate the credit card bills? Well, there is a new wave of websites that are trying to help shopaholics cut down on spending. That's after a break.

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17:37And we're back with Here's the Scoop from NBC News. So what do you do when you're just completely stressed out, right? Like me, I want to go online. I go to my favorite store. Maybe I fill up my shopping cart. The only problem is you actually have to pay for all that stuff. But there is a new trend out there out of South Korea, and it makes shopping all the thrill, but then there's no bill on the other end. You fill up your car, you check out, and then nothing happens. No packages, no regrets, no credit card bill. So I want to bring in NBC News chief investigative correspondent, Vicky Nguyen, for more on these fake shopping sites.

18:13Hi, Vicky. Hi, Yasmin. Good to be with you. You've been on these sites before, right? Where you're literally shopping but not actually shopping just to kind of ease the anxiety that you're carrying, it seems. I think we've all heard the term retail therapy, right? There is something about going out, buying things, consuming things that does give you a little dopamine hit. It gives you a little mood boost. A little bit more. Not fun when the bill comes. A little more than little. Right, right? Depending on, you know, your level of shopping. So this is wild because it started as a joke in South Korea.

18:42these sites that are really sophisticated and developed to make you feel like you are actually shopping online. There's one called Fake Haul, and it kind of looks like one of those other discount retail sites. From clothing to shoes, beauty products, they sell everything. And you're on there clicking, adding to cart, selecting your size. There's a countdown clock. Is it like brand name stuff? Is it like stuff that actually is out there? They look like real items. Okay. But the The thing is, when you get to the checkout, you've got your cart full of everything. There's already a credit card in there for you.

19:16Okay. And you can check out. You get the order confirmed. The little confetti flies up. Oh, so you actually get to take it all the way to the end. You take it all the way to the end. But they make it very clear on the site, nothing is going to be sent for you. You are not charged for anything. You are not actually going to receive anything. So it's weird. There's a psychology behind all of this. Why shopping makes us happy. It's funny because I actually, I have to say, I don't know what this says about me. I already do something like this sometimes where I'll go online shopping and literally put things that I would never be able to afford in the cart just to be like, I'm buying this.

19:53Like I've done it with like watches, jewelry, that kind of thing. But obviously I don't take it to the end. You prove the point here that it scratches an itch for folks. It gives you the thrill of shopping without the bill. that's why this thing caught fire. You know, the people who created it didn't think it was going to be a thing, and now it's become a thing. And in some ways, we talked to this financial therapist, her name is Lindsay Bryan Podvin, and she's like, it's a little bit of harm reduction. Like, for folks who actually do have a shopping addiction or an issue with shopping and consuming and overspending, this is a way to do it safely and without it hurting your wallet.

20:30And I asked her what it is about shopping that does make us so happy, even if we're not actually getting the item. We're not actually spending the money. And she said, it's the browsing. It's the searching. It's the hunting. It's the gathering. It kind of is primal in some ways, right? And so it makes sense why this would be satisfying. I will say the other site that we tried frustrated me. Why? Because it was a food delivery site. It's called Food Never Comes. So it's in the title. It's in the URL. So they do it with food too? It's kind of like a site that looks like a Grubhub or DoorDash or a seamless Uber Eats.

21:04You know, you're like, I want that chicken tikka masala. Ooh, give me some of those tacos. Give me a bowl of pho. You add it to your cart and it's like, okay, cool. This will be there in 15 minutes. You do the whole thing and obviously food never comes. And to me, I'm like, this seems like it's triggering. I would not like that. That's already happened to me in real life where you order food and then it takes forever or it doesn't come or there's a problem with it. So I was like, that's too much PTSD. But I guess some people like browsing for food and adding it to a cart and pretending like it's going to arrive.

21:30Yeah, that's not something necessarily I feel like I could get on board with. Because if I want the food, I want the food to show up. Yeah. Exactly. I mean, granted, if I want the sweater, I want the sweater to show up too. But like, I can understand why it is maybe I don't necessarily need the sweater. Whereas if I'm hungry, I actually need the food. How widespread is this trend? Are these sites? I feel like it's really in its early stages. There's obviously people on the internet talking about it on social media because it just started. And I don't think it's for everyone. But it was weirdly satisfying doing the shopping one.

21:59Because you're like, oh, that's kind of fun. You know, it's like a little pastime. I think ultimately, though, a lot of people turn to shopping because they're trying to fill some sort of a void, right? That's what Lindsay, our financial therapist, told us. And it makes sense. You go on there because maybe you're bored. So she said, instead, go out to a real movie, pick up a book, learn something. If you're lonely, and that's why you're shopping, call a friend, right? Go outside, touch grass, move your body, get away from the computer, put down the phone, and do some real things. And I thought that was really good.

22:30And there is an analog version to this, right? We used to go window shopping. We still do, some of us, right? Like I was a mall rat. It's actually something I've introduced to my kids recently where I'm like, we're going to go to the toy store, but we're going to go window shopping. You guys aren't actually buying anything, but you get to look at all the new toys and stuff. You get to hug the stuffed animal, like play with the thing. They're not great at it. It's like so tempting. They're like, but why can't I take it home with me? Exactly. And then it's like begging nonstop. But yes, you're right.

22:56It is something that we've been doing for a long time. But I think because online shopping has made buying things so much easier, we've moved away from kind of window shopping because it's easier to just like put it in your car and then pay with your Apple Pay. Totally. And you don't see the bill till way later. And then it's fun to anticipate the thing coming to your doorstep. So I do think there's like the analog version. And this generation, a lot of kids didn't grow up in the mall. They didn't go to the store. This is their version of shopping. And so it feels very native to them. And so some people are like, this is crazy.

23:26But I say, don't yuck anybody's yum. If you're having a good time, if it prevents you from spending money on things you don't need, go for it. Vicky Nguyen, I got to go on one of these. Yeah, check it out. Let me know what you think. Thank you. You bet. All right. That's going to do it for us at Here's the Scoop from NBC News. I'm Ynazin Vasugan. 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's a deeper dive on the main stories of the day that comes out every weeknight straight to your inbox.

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