Natalie Kitroweth
Appearances
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
From The New York Times, I'm Natalie Kitro-Eff. This is The Daily.
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
Okay, so you see Baldoni kind of vacillating. You see Nathan responding. But Megan, do we know actually whether the online backlash against Lively is the result of these, quote, very specific things that the team is doing?
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
When you reached out to them, to the Baldoni team, what did they say about all this?
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
Standard operating practice for stories like this, the no surprises email.
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
Right. And this is something his supporters have really seized on online, right?
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
And we should say for listeners that before this interview, the team at The Daily got an official statement on this lawsuit from The New York Times company. It says that The Times stands by the story, saying it was meticulously and responsibly reported and that the company plans to, quote, vigorously defend against the suit.
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
So, Megan, how did Baldoni's legal team respond to the second issue, Lively's allegations of sexual harassment during filming?
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
In effect, Wayfair is saying, yes, we made accommodations to Lively on set, but they weren't because of any underlying wrongdoing on our part.
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
Megan, after all this, this whole discussion that we've had, I feel genuinely confused about what to think here. And I'm also keenly aware that this has been about public narratives and public perceptions all along. So where do we stand with that tug of war over narratives now?
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
Yeah, I watched the video and read a lot of commentary about it. And what was striking to me was just how differently people were interpreting what it actually proved.
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
Megan, after spending all of this time looking deep into this story and this alleged smear campaign, seeing the responses from both sides, the debates about the responses, what's your takeaway from all this?
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
Right. And so in your mind, it sounds like the very existence of a campaign like the one alleged in the complaint that uses these new tactics and tools to prevent reputational damage, that's what's most significant here.
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
Okay, let's talk about the campaign as described in the filing. Where does that story start?
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
Over the last few weeks, two Hollywood stars, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, have gone to battle over exactly what happened during the making and promotion of their latest film.
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
Here's what else you need to know today. A jolt of panic hit technology stocks on Monday after the debut of a chatbot from the Chinese company DeepSeek. DeepSeek's models appear to rival those from OpenAI, Google, and Meta. And the company says it created its chatbot with a small fraction of the specialized computer chips that its American competitors use.
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
Hardest hit in the sell-off was chipmaker NVIDIA, which dropped nearly 17% and lost roughly $600 billion in market value. The assumption in the tech industry was that in order to build bigger and better AI systems, companies would have to spend billions on new data centers that relied on NVIDIA's chips. An assumption that DeepSeq has potentially upended.
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
Today's episode was produced by Will Reed and Muj Zaydi, with help from Michael Simon Johnson. It was edited by Mike Benoit, contains original music by Alishaba Etup, Rowan Nemisto, Diane Wong, and Marion Lozano, and was engineered by Chris Wood. Our theme music is by Jim Bremberg and Ben Landsberg of Wonderly. Thank you. That's it for The Daily. I'm Natalie Kitroweth. See you tomorrow.
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
Yes, I know her. I think I've seen her books like a million times at the airport, for example.
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
It's a dispute that's pulled back the curtain on an alleged smear campaign and the new set of tools that celebrities can use to defend themselves and redefine their enemies in the court of public opinion.
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
Okay, so according to Lively's complaint, there are a number of things on set that make this situation unworkable. What are the conditions that she asks for to deal with them?
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
Okay, so Lively gets the conditions that she asks for. How do those work out in the end?
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
It kind of sounds like the situation was handled relatively well in the end. I mean, she asks for certain things to happen, they happen, and according to her, the situation on set is better.
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
Today, my colleague Megan Toohey on the legal complaint that started it all.
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
Right. I mean, in Instagram world, being unfollowed, you couldn't get a more obvious sign of a disagreement than that.
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
Megan, in my reporting, I'm used to people hiring crisis PR firms to deal with a corporate crisis or a political problem. In this case, I'm assuming the function is essentially the same. I mean, you're hiring a crisis PR firm to avert a reputational crisis.
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
It's Tuesday, January 28th. Megan, welcome back to the show. Thanks for having me. So you have broken and covered some of the biggest stories of sexual harassment in Hollywood, but your latest article has generated an extraordinary amount of attention, even for you. And I have to confess to being pretty read in on this one. It has been difficult to avoid the online conversation around it.
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
Can you just read me some of this? Because I think a lot of what we're going to be talking about here are about the internal communications that are going on. I just think it would be useful to hear some of these messages.
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
So in these texts, in the complaint, you do see a shift from just protecting Baldoni's reputation to potentially targeting Blake Lively, going after her.
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
All that is sort of jargony, but it sounds like what's being discussed is a proposal for an all-out push on social media to take control of the public narrative here, you know, intervening in the online conversations about Lively and Baldoni and influencing it specifically to benefit Baldoni and to hurt Lively.
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
So, Megan, what did this plan, which was supposed to be untraceable, actually look like when it was put into action?
The Daily
The Legal Battle Riveting Hollywood
Okay, so this sounds in keeping with the kinds of things they had outlined in their plan to Baldoni. What does that actually involve?
The Daily
China Challenges Silicon Valley for A.I. Dominance
From The New York Times, I'm Natalie Kitro-Eff. This is The Daily. Last week, financial markets went into a panic over an obscure Chinese tech startup called DeepSeek. That company now threatens to upend the world of artificial intelligence and the race for who will dominate it.
The Daily
China Challenges Silicon Valley for A.I. Dominance
Kevin, if we really are past that point, you know, of containment here, if we're off to the races, does it matter that this innovation happened in China by a Chinese company? I mean, isn't this bigger than that at this point?
The Daily
China Challenges Silicon Valley for A.I. Dominance
In a way, it kind of follows the normal progression of any new product, right? Like, at first it's expensive, and then more and more competition leads to innovation, the thing gets cheaper, everything becomes more democratized.
The Daily
China Challenges Silicon Valley for A.I. Dominance
We'll be right back. Here's what else you need to know today. On Saturday, President Trump declared tariffs of 25% on all goods from Canada and Mexico, with a partial carve-out for Canadian energy and oil exports. He also announced an additional 10% tariff on products coming in from China. The tariffs are set to take effect at 12.01 a.m.
The Daily
China Challenges Silicon Valley for A.I. Dominance
ET on Tuesday, and have raised concerns of an escalating trade war with America's largest trading partners. Those countries responded swiftly to Trump's announcement. The Canadian government detailed its own retaliatory 25% tariffs on more than $100 billion worth of U.S. goods, including everything from American-made honey, tomatoes, and whiskey to refrigerators and toilets.
The Daily
China Challenges Silicon Valley for A.I. Dominance
President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico said she would unveil her country's response on Monday, while China's Commerce Ministry promised to bring a legal case at the World Trade Organization and, quote, corresponding countermeasures. President Trump acknowledged on social media that his tariffs could cause, quote, some pain, but said it would be, quote, worth the price that must be paid.
The Daily
China Challenges Silicon Valley for A.I. Dominance
And in a new effort to tighten the immigration system, the Trump administration is ending temporary protected status for 300,000 Venezuelan migrants in the United States, according to government documents obtained by The Times. The move could make those migrants vulnerable to potential deportation in the coming months.
The Daily
China Challenges Silicon Valley for A.I. Dominance
The designation of temporary protected status was meant to protect migrants fleeing dangerous situations in their home countries. But Republican critics have said it allowed migrants to stay in the United States for much longer than intended. Today's episode was produced by Shannon Lin, Claire Tennesketter, Alex Stern, and Caitlin O'Keefe, with help from Will Reed.
The Daily
China Challenges Silicon Valley for A.I. Dominance
It was edited by Mark George and Chris Haxel, with help from Paige Cowett. Contains original music by Pat McCusker, Marion Lozano, and Dan Powell, and was engineered by Alyssa Moxley. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsberg of Wonderly. That's it for The Daily. I'm Natalie Kittroweth. See you tomorrow.
The Daily
China Challenges Silicon Valley for A.I. Dominance
Okay, we're going to get to those questions of who this company is and how they did this. But I just first want to dig into the anatomy of the market panic. What are the real fears driving this?
The Daily
China Challenges Silicon Valley for A.I. Dominance
Today, my colleague Kevin Roos, a tech columnist and the co-host of the podcast Hard Fork, on how DeepSeek caught us all off guard. It's Monday, February 3rd. Hi, Kevin. Hello.
The Daily
China Challenges Silicon Valley for A.I. Dominance
Yeah. And should I maybe be investing in balsa wood cars?
The Daily
China Challenges Silicon Valley for A.I. Dominance
Kevin, it certainly seems that at least based on what DeepSeek is saying, it has managed to pull off a pretty impressive feat here. But I'm wondering, can we trust what the company says? Can we trust their claims about how they pulled this off?
The Daily
China Challenges Silicon Valley for A.I. Dominance
Okay, so let's talk about those engineering techniques. I mean, how actually did DeepSeq do this? Make a chatbot on a shoestring budget, potentially, with second-rate chips?
The Daily
China Challenges Silicon Valley for A.I. Dominance
And it occurs to me, Kevin, that this company was operating under a lot of constraints. And it sounds like that may have forced the engineers to think about how to tackle this problem differently. As in, it seems possible that not having these critical ingredients actually bred innovation.
The Daily
China Challenges Silicon Valley for A.I. Dominance
So, Kevin, how do the big American tech companies contend with that? I mean, what do they say to investors who are wondering about whether maybe these companies have been throwing money away when some of this work on these AI models could have been done much more cheaply?
The Daily
China Challenges Silicon Valley for A.I. Dominance
So let's jump in. Kevin, how did this giant AI tech freakout begin? Tell us that story.
The Daily
China Challenges Silicon Valley for A.I. Dominance
And for you, Kevin, I mean, obviously you've been covering this world for a very long time. Does that show you that more money doesn't necessarily mean more innovation in the world of AI where more money has been kind of a given, you know, as an assumption of what's needed? I mean, does it actually suggest that maybe smaller, as you said, scrappier startups could make huge gains in this world?
The Daily
China Challenges Silicon Valley for A.I. Dominance
We'll be right back. Kevin, it sounds like DeepSeek has already or is about to really change the landscape of AI. And my question is, is that good? Like, for people like you and me, I mean, maybe you more than me, who use chatbots for consumers...
The Daily
China Challenges Silicon Valley for A.I. Dominance
Kevin, if this really is that important of a moment in the global AI arms race, how should we expect the United States to react? I mean, does the U.S. government just ban this thing? You know, we saw TikTok banned because it was owned by a Chinese company. Is that the move here?
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
From The New York Times, I'm Natalie Kitroweth. This is The Daily. At the center of Trump's aggressive first week in office is a 39-year-old advisor, Stephen Miller. It's his ideas and ideology that have animated the president's unprecedented blitz of executive orders. Today, my colleague Jonathan Swan explains Miller's dramatic return to the White House and why his power has never been greater.
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
We'll be right back. Jonathan, what did Miller do exactly during those four years to put himself in a position to more effectively execute his vision?
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
Jonathan, it's not lost on me, obviously, that this guy who was made fun of at one point in Washington is now making friends in high places and really cultivating the kinds of allies that he needs. I mean, the richest guy in the world, for example, to make sure that he can wield his power efficiently. It sounds like he is actively trying to make up for strategic holes that may have been there.
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
OK, but Jonathan, I think it's worth noting that just last week, Miller's strategy ran into something of a wall. This federal judge knocked down the executive order ending birthright citizenship. The judge said, I'm quoting here, I've been on the bench for over four decades. This is a blatantly unconstitutional order. Where were the lawyers when this decision was being made?
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
So, okay, tell us how Miller got here. How did he arrive at the beliefs that are now, you know, defining these opening days and really shifting the country to the right, especially on immigration?
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
So I'm wondering, does this mirror the sloppiness of the Muslim ban in the first term? Does it raise questions for you about whether Miller's four years of preparation did actually put him in a better position to execute his vision?
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
OK, we're just at the start, obviously, of this administration. But when I think about what the likelihood of Miller having success here long term is, I have to ask about something that you mentioned earlier, which is the potential for moderating forces within Trump world, people that oppose some of his agenda. Do those people still exist? Are those forces still there?
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
Donald Trump is the restraining force on Stephen Miller? Yeah. Really? How so?
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
And how does Miller respond when Trump is not fully aligned with him, when they disagree?
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
Jonathan, I have to say, just thinking about Miller's bio, that guy, the guy who kind of backs down from a fight, who concedes strategically, he's come a long way from the high schooler who, you know, was this strident ideological warrior who, in some cases, was starting fights to make a point, to go against the grain. He's a different person.
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
On Sunday, the immigration crackdown that Miller helped craft continued to take shape. The president of Colombia said that his country had turned away military planes carrying Colombian deportees. He said Colombia would not accept any deportation flights from the United States until the Trump administration created a process to treat Colombian migrants with, quote, "...dignity and respect."
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
In response, Trump threatened a barrage of retaliatory measures against the country, including sanctions and 25% tariffs on all Colombian imports. Late Sunday night, the Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, backed down and agreed to let deportation flights into the country.
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
The White House said in a statement that because the Colombian president had agreed to all of its terms, the tariffs and sanctions that Trump had threatened would be, quote, We'll be right back. Here's what else you need to know today.
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
Former South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem was sworn in as Homeland Security Secretary on Saturday, putting her in charge of the agency that's at the heart of Trump's immigration crackdown. The department runs Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Noem is a close Trump ally who was once seen as a potential running mate for the president.
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
And on Sunday, Pete Hegseth was sworn in as defense secretary after overcoming a claim of sexual harassment and accusations of abusive behavior and public drunkenness. He was narrowly confirmed by the Senate over the weekend, with Vice President J.D. Vance casting the deciding vote after a 50-50 tie.
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
The final vote was the slimmest margin for a defense secretary's confirmation since the position was created in 1947. Today's episode was produced by Mary Wilson, Jessica Chung, Nina Feldman, and Eric Krupke. It was edited by Brendan Klinkenberg with help from Paige Cowett. Fact Check by Will Peischel. Contains original music by Alishaba Etup and Marion Lozano. And was engineered by Chris Wood.
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsberg of Wonderly. That's it for The Daily. I'm Natalie Kittroweth. See you tomorrow.
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
And I have to imagine, Jonathan, I mean, he's in L.A., he's in Santa Monica. This is generally a kind of liberal environment. And he's going against the grain here. So there's a part of that that's about, you know, contradicting the people that are around him, the environment around him. It also just sounds like there's a piece of this that is really genuinely xenophobic. Yeah.
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
Okay, he's proven right. He must be feeling pretty emboldened. What does he do next?
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
The idea was broaden the tent. We can win elections if we bring Latinos into our coalition.
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
I think a lot of us remember Stephen Miller from the first Trump term. But now that he's back, what do we need to know about who Miller has become and the role he's going to play this time around?
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
Right. It sounds like they are betting at this point, Miller and Sessions, that while there is a consensus among the Republican establishment that this is the right way to go, that they actually know what voters care about and that this bill would not be popular with the base of voters that they're trying to win over.
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
So this is a huge victory for Miller. Another instance in which it's him against the world in what you said was this kind of uphill battle. He comes out on top. And yet Republicans in his own party, it sounds like, are still swatting him away like a fly. I mean, he's still an outsider, even among conservatives at this point.
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
It's interesting. It's like in Trump, Miller finds this ideological soulmate in a way and a guy who can really help move his vision from the fringes to the mainstream. And in Miller, Trump finds a workhorse who is willing to stay up all night and design a kind of campaign that appeals to voters.
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
Okay, so Donald Trump obviously wins. How does Miller start to put his imprint on the first term?
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
It would be hard to overstate the impact of that policy. I mean, it literally reshaped the immigration system.
The Daily
Stephen Miller’s Return to Power
For Miller, it sounds like this first term is kind of a mixed bag, right? I mean, he has a lot of success, as you just said, in reshaping some of the rules of the game on the issue he cares most about, immigration. But at the same time, his lack of West Wing experience and know-how gets in the way of achieving his full vision.
The Daily
What We Know About the Plane Crash
From The New York Times, I'm Natalie Kitroweth. This is The Daily. On Wednesday night, a passenger jet and a helicopter collided midair over Washington, D.C. It was the deadliest plane crash in the United States in more than 20 years. Today, my colleague Emily Steele explains what we know about what went wrong. It's Friday, January 31st. Emily, it's 5.30 p.m.
The Daily
What We Know About the Plane Crash
Emily, thank you. Thank you. In a news conference on Thursday, President Trump suggested that efforts to diversify the ranks of the FAA and hire people with disabilities were to blame for the accident in Washington.
The Daily
What We Know About the Plane Crash
When pushed on how he arrived at that conclusion, the president said he had no evidence but was relying on, quote, common sense. We'll be right back. Here's what else you need to know today. On Thursday, three of President Trump's cabinet nominees were questioned before the Senate.
The Daily
What We Know About the Plane Crash
Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick for director of national intelligence, faced sharp questions about her stances on Syria and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Daily
What We Know About the Plane Crash
She refused to denounce Edward Snowden, who leaked classified information about government surveillance programs in 2013, eliciting concern from senators on both sides of the aisle.
The Daily
What We Know About the Plane Crash
The tense hearing suggested Gabbard would face a challenging confirmation battle. In his hearing, Kash Patel, Trump's choice to run the FBI, tried to evade questions about whether he would investigate officials on a list of his perceived enemies and promised not to launch politically motivated investigations.
The Daily
What We Know About the Plane Crash
He sought to distance himself from Trump, going so far as to suggest that he disagreed with the president's decision to pardon the January 6th rioters.
The Daily
What We Know About the Plane Crash
And in his second hearing for health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended his views on vaccinations in a tense session that featured shouting matches and a senator in tears.
The Daily
What We Know About the Plane Crash
By the end, it was unclear whether Kennedy had persuaded one senator whose vote could be key to his future, the Louisiana Republican Bill Cassidy.
The Daily
What We Know About the Plane Crash
Cassidy's a doctor, and he expressed deep concern about what he called Kennedy's, quote, passive undermining confidence in vaccines. And he wondered whether Kennedy could change.
The Daily
What We Know About the Plane Crash
Kennedy can only afford to lose three Republican votes to win final confirmation. Later today, you can catch a new episode of The Daily right here. Michael Barbaro speaks with Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan, and Charlie Savage about President Trump's plan to make a more powerful presidency permanent. Today's episode was produced by Aastha Chaturvedi and Carlos Prieto.
The Daily
What We Know About the Plane Crash
It was edited by Devin Taylor. Contains original music by Dan Powell, Pat McCusker, and Marion Lozano. And was engineered by Chris Wood. Our theme music is by Jim Brumberg and Ben Landsberg of Wonderly. That's it for The Daily. I'm Natalie Kittrow. See you on Monday.
The Daily
What We Know About the Plane Crash
Yeah, Emily, I saw a video of the crash and you just see this tiny dot of this helicopter flying towards the airplane and then they collide and there's this massive explosion. It's terrifying.
The Daily
What We Know About the Plane Crash
OK, I've covered plane crashes before the Boeing 737 MAX accident specifically. And so I know it takes a while for all the details to come out. But what do we know at this point about what went wrong here? How did this happen?
The Daily
What We Know About the Plane Crash
So the helicopter pilot says, yes, I see this other plane. But in fact, the plane that they see is not the one they're headed to a direct collision with.
The Daily
What We Know About the Plane Crash
Hmm. So potentially these pilots on the helicopter had visibility issues.
The Daily
What We Know About the Plane Crash
Oh, wow. So maybe they weren't even supposed to be there in the first place. But what about the air traffic controller? I mean, isn't this the person who is literally supposed to be the eyes on the sky?
The Daily
What We Know About the Plane Crash
on Thursday, not even 24 hours after this awful plane crash in Washington. And we're talking to you because you've spent a lot of time investigating aviation safety. Can you just explain what exactly happened on Wednesday night?
The Daily
What We Know About the Plane Crash
In other words, the air traffic controller intervened, but he didn't do so in a proactive or aggressive enough way given the conditions, given what was happening. Exactly. And are there any theories about why that didn't happen in this case? No.
The Daily
What We Know About the Plane Crash
You're saying you have one air traffic controller who's assigned essentially to two really important tasks here. They're monitoring not just the planes, but also the helicopters.
The Daily
What We Know About the Plane Crash
Emily, it certainly sounds like the idea of one air traffic controller with two really big jobs in a really busy airspace could have been a factor here. I mean, could that explain a lot of what happened here?
The Daily
What We Know About the Plane Crash
We'll be right back. Emily, you said there have been growing holes in the system of aviation safety that made a disaster like what we saw on Wednesday possible, maybe even foreseeable. I know this is something you and our colleague Sydney Ember have reported on in the past. Remind us of what you found.
The Daily
What We Know About the Plane Crash
And Emily, after your investigation came out, did anything change? Did the system get better?