A GOP Split Over Legal Immigration; A Thanksgiving Feast of Blockbusters?

Summary

Here’s the Scoop – Episode Summary

Episode Title: A GOP Split Over Legal Immigration; A Thanksgiving Feast of Blockbusters?
Date: November 26, 2025
Host: Yasmin Vossoughian
Guests: Jonathan Allen (NBC Senior National Politics Reporter), Chloe Melas (NBC Entertainment Correspondent)

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into two major stories:
1. The rift within the Republican Party over legal immigration, particularly H1B visas, in the context of recent policy reversals and political positioning.
2. A look at the struggling fall movie box office and what Hollywood is hoping for this Thanksgiving weekend, featuring new releases, box office insights, and what audiences can expect through the holidays.

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Segment 1: GOP Fight Over Legal Immigration and H1B Visas

Starts at 01:03

Key Discussion Points

• Introduction of the Issue:
  The episode sets up a split within the Republican Party. While the base is largely united on opposing illegal immigration, there is increasing tension and confusion over the President’s shifting stance on legal immigration programs, especially H1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers.

• President’s Flip-Flop on H1B Policy:

  • Initially, the administration sharply increased costs and restrictions for employers sponsoring H1B visas, making it prohibitively expensive.
  • Recently, the President has softened this stance, stirring concern and conflict among GOP factions.

• What Are H1B Visas?

  • Jonathan Allen explains the H1B visa program: "The idea is to bring in, you know, what are referred to as highly skilled workers into the United States who may fill jobs that are difficult to fill with American workers... largely because of the educational or skill level..." (02:37)
  • Allen notes the controversy centers on what defines "highly skilled" and whether Americans are actually being displaced by these visas.

• The Political and Economic Divide:

  • Allen highlights how this pits traditional America First conservatives (exemplified by Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene) against Silicon Valley-backed, pro-business Republicans.
  • Companies like Google and Tesla are less impacted by high visa costs, while small businesses face significant financial hurdles.

Notable Quotes and Exchanges

• On American talent and H1B needs:

  • Yasmin: "When we have plenty of talented people."
  • Jonathan Allen: "No, you don't."
  • Chloe Melas: "No, you don't." (01:56)
  • Allen clarifies that there are skill sets missing from the current American workforce which H1Bs fill.

• On the intra-party battle:

  • Allen: "Marjorie Taylor Greene, who... is going to resign... as a result of her larger fight with the president over who owns America First. Part of that fight was about these H1B visas." (06:31)
  • Chloe Melas: "Americans deserve a future. They deserve a chance. And I believe Americans are the most talented people in the world, the most creative, and I want them to have their American dream." (07:24)

• On risk of opposing the President:

  • Allen: "[N]o one has taken him on the way that she has. And, you know, for good reason, because when people in his party take him on, they usually get destroyed." (08:05)

Insights

• The internal GOP fight reflects broader anxieties about national identity, the future of work, and America's economic competitiveness.
• The pressing concern for many small businesses is the prohibitive cost of sponsoring foreign workers, while tech giants have different priorities.
• Marjorie Taylor Greene's resignation underscores the cost of challenging presidential authority in today’s GOP.

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Segment 2: Thanksgiving Weekend at the Box Office

Starts at 10:23

Key Discussion Points

• Current State of Theaters:

  • Fall 2025 saw the worst box office returns in 27 years (excluding pandemic impacts).
  • Several high-profile releases, despite their star power, underperformed at the box office.

• What Went Wrong?:

  • Chloe Melas: Movies like "The Smashing Machine" starring Dwayne Johnson and "Christie" with Sydney Sweeney failed to draw crowds, despite Oscar buzz and sports drama appeal.
    • "People just didn't get out of their houses to go see these movies in theater." (11:20)

• What’s Performing Well?:

  • Family films and established franchises are faring better:
    • "Wicked for Good": Projected $150 million domestic, $226 million worldwide opening (12:14)
    • "Zootopia 2" expected to perform strongly as well.

• Upcoming Releases & Anticipation:

  • Melas shares personal excitement for "Hamnet" (a Shakespeare-related drama) and "Marty Supreme" (Timothée Chalamet ping pong biopic), both with Oscar buzz.
    • "Hamnet…is exactly the type of movie that I would leave my house for to cry. Just to cry ugly tears the entire time." (13:09)
  • "Avatar: Fire and Ash" (Avatar 3) is flying under the radar but predicted to be massive, with major stars returning.

• Changing Audience Behavior:

  • Host Yasmin reflects on the tradition of family movie outings during Thanksgiving, but they acknowledge streaming is reducing theater attendance.
  • Melas: "Because of streaming and all the other ways in which people consume content, there's not as much of a reason to get out of the house and go pay a lot of money to see a movie in theaters." (15:50)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the state of moviegoing:

  • Melas: "It has been...a historic low for movie theaters." (11:12)
  • Film critic Brian Lowry called this season a "bloodbath for the studios." (15:50)

• On the importance of holiday releases:

  • Melas: "So it's really the family movies at the BO this weekend that's gonna be driving those big numbers." (12:31)
  • On "Avatar: Fire and Ash": "Soon everything's gonna be blue. An Avatar. So again, this is gonna be big." (15:08)

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Episode Highlights and Memorable Moments

• Jonathan Allen reporting live from a rental car in Michigan over the holiday week.

  • Yasmin: "John Allen, our intrepid reporter coming to us from a rental car in in Michigan as he continues his reporting even there on Thanksgiving week." (08:26)

• Chloe Melas's infectious excitement about movies—gesturing emphatically over the upcoming films, especially Avatar.

  • Yasmin: "For those of you that are just listening. Chloe has now opened up her arms." (15:04)

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Important Timestamps

• 01:03 — Show start and introduction of GOP/H1B split
• 02:37 — Explanation of H1B visa history and controversy (Jonathan Allen)
• 03:55 — President’s motivation for H1B policy reversal
• 06:31 — Marjorie Taylor Greene’s challenge to the President and resignation
• 07:24 — Chloe Melas’ statement on the American Dream
• 10:23 — Movie segment kickoff: Thanksgiving box office preview
• 11:20 — Why the fall box office slumped
• 12:14 — "Wicked for Good" opening weekend numbers
• 13:09 — Overview of upcoming Christmas/holiday movie releases
• 15:50 — Will the holidays save the studios?
• 15:50 — Streaming vs. theatrical moviegoing

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Summary Takeaway

This episode of Here’s the Scoop provides an incisive look at GOP discord over legal immigration, revealing deep fault lines between populist and pro-business factions as the President’s H1B stance shifts. The second half offers a fun, fast-paced rundown of Hollywood’s hopes for box office redemption during Thanksgiving—with a clear-eyed view of why audiences are harder to entice and why blockbuster sequels still rule the season.

Memorable Quote:
"Americans deserve a future. They deserve a chance. And I believe Americans are the most talented people in the world, the most creative, and I want them to have their American dream." – Chloe Melas (07:24)

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Listeners will leave with a firm understanding of how political and cultural trends—inside the Capitol and in American entertainment—are colliding this Thanksgiving week.

Transcript

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[Yasmin Bisougi]

Welcome to here's the scoop of NBC News. I'm Yasmin Bisugi. It is Thanksgiving week, everybody. We are ready to roll, eat rolls, that is. But before we get out of here to spend some time with some family and some friends, we're gonna talk about a fight happening at the Republican Party's Thanksgiving table. So here's what's going on. President Trump's base is largely united on how to handle illegal immigration. But when it comes to legal immigration, it's a different story, particularly on H1B visas. That is the program that helps the US bring in highly skilled foreign workers, usually for jobs in tech, finance and health care. Just a few months ago, the president cracked down on these H1Bs, rolling out a bunch of new restrictions, making them prohibitively expensive. But more recently, if you want to raise wages for American workers, you can't flood the country with with tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of foreign workers.

[Chloe Melas]

Also do have to bring in talent.

[Yasmin Bisougi]

When we have plenty of talented people.

[Jonathan Allen]

No, you don't.

[Chloe Melas]

No, you don't.

[Yasmin Bisougi]

We don't have talented people.

[Chloe Melas]

No, you don't have.

[Yasmin Bisougi]

You don't have certain talents.

[Chloe Melas]

And you have to. People have to learn.

[Yasmin Bisougi]

That was the president on Laura Ingraham's Fox News show recently. And his apparent reversal on H1BS is sending shock waves through the party and fanning the flames of an already raging fight with Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who of course just announced that she's resigning her post in 2026. There's a lot going on here. So for more on this, I want to bring in our senior national politics reporter, Jonathan Allen.

[VRBO Advertiser]

Hi, John.

[Jonathan Allen]

Hi, Asrit.

[Yasmin Bisougi]

Let's talk about these H1B visas, who they're for, and the flip flop from the present. Where he stands now on these H1BS and where he stood.

[Jonathan Allen]

The H1B visas are for at least historically. This is a program that's dated back to the 1950s. The idea is to bring in, you know, what are referred to as highly skilled workers into the United States who may fill jobs that are difficult to fill with American workers for a variety of reasons, but largely because of the educational or skill level of the person getting this, you know, these H1B visas. The controversy often comes over. It comes over two things. One is how you define highly skilled worker. There are a lot of people in the United States who believe that American jobs, jobs that Americans could be doing, are actually being taken by foreign workers who come over here under the auspices of this visa that is, you know, was supposed to exist to allow foreign workers to come in and take jobs that Americans couldn't do, or, you know, there were not enough Americans to do those types of jobs. Right. The other thing is sort of the broader question of, like, the number of immigrants who are coming into the country legally in addition to illegally, because there's a big part of the President's base that would like to see less of that. And the President lately has been sounding a much softer note on this type of immigration. And there are fears within his base that he is moving swiftly toward pushing for more H1B visas.

[Yasmin Bisougi]

This is a president who, at one point, these H1B visas cost 2 to $5,000 for companies to sponsor these potential employees, to bring them to the United States from overseas. The President said, no, no, no, they're not going to cost $100,000. But then it seems, as you put it, softening. Do we know what is motivating this back and forth?

[Jonathan Allen]

The big motivation here is that there is a desire among some of the President's Silicon Valley supporters in the tech industry and other industries who want to bring in these foreign workers and want to bring in specialized workers in some cases. And the President. What the President's trying to do, I think, is bridge the gap here. I think what he's trying to say is what we're going to do is bring in foreign workers, and then they're going to train Americans to do the jobs that the foreign workers are able to do. And that has gotten him in trouble, too, because there are people in his base who are basically saying he's making American workers sound like they're dumb or behind or not capable of doing all These jobs, and they need to be trained by foreigners to do them. And there's obviously a cultural fight going on here, too, right, about what the future of America looks like. And there are people in the base who are very, very averse to anyone coming in, you know, and certainly large numbers of people. So if you're talking about, you know, 85,000 visas a year or 100,000 visas a year, which is what we're looking at, there is a significant number of people coming into the country. It's not, you know, in the millions or anything in any given year. The other thing that I would just, you know, whether it's a $5,000 cost to a business to bring in a foreign worker on an H1B visa or $100,000 cost, it doesn't matter that much to very wealthy companies. What it matters to is smaller companies. That difference is big, is huge. If you're. If you're a company that has three or four or five people, you know, that extra $100,000 a year is huge. If you are Tesla or Google or whatever like that, $100,000 is. Is minimal if you think you're bringing in a worker who. Whose value to your company is going to far exceed that.

[Yasmin Bisougi]

So this is also pitting folks within the Republican Party against each other. You've got the Marjorie Taylor Greens of the world pitted against kind of these quote, unquote, tech pros. Right? We have seen every tech titan at this point lined up behind the president early on in this administration. What is that fight and how is it bearing out?

[Jonathan Allen]

So Marjorie Taylor Greene, who, you know now is going to resign in January as a result of her larger fight with the president over who owns America First. Part of that fight was about these H1B visas. And, you know, what Congresswoman Taylor Greene is saying is there are Americans that can do these jobs. And why are we bringing people from outside the country to do jobs that Americans could do? That's her view, that they could do, and that, you know, that the President shouldn't be allowing that to happen. That if these companies need highly skilled workers, then Americans should be doing those jobs. And if they're not able to do them today, then they should be ready to do them tomorrow. And, you know, essentially it's a failure of the country if we can't fill the best jobs with our own people. She's, you know, taken the president to task over that and said, you're not doing, you know, you're not keeping up the MAGA's America first ethos.

[Chloe Melas]

Americans deserve a future. They deserve a chance. And I believe Americans are the most talented people in the world, the most creative, and I want them to have their American dream.

[Jonathan Allen]

And the president has basically told her to go pound sand and then said he was going to support a primary challenge against her, not all over the H1B visa, but that sort of major issue that the H1B visa represents is the one she went after him on on a number of fronts, which is basically the idea that he has gotten away from the MAGA base and gotten away from the America first viewpoint that they have.

[Yasmin Bisougi]

Is there anybody supporting her within conservative lawmakers on this fight?

[Jonathan Allen]

So the lawmakers largely have been quiet about it. There are many others who have taken her position. If you go on social media, you'll see leading people in the MAGA movement talking about how the president is, you know, running afoul of his own, of his own base. But no one has taken him on the way that she has. And you know, for good reason, because when people in his party take him on, they usually get destroyed.

[Yasmin Bisougi]

John Allen, our intrepid reporter coming to us from a rental car in in Michigan as he continues his reporting even there on Thanksgiving week. Thank you, John.

[Jonathan Allen]

Thank you, Yasmin.

[Yasmin Bisougi]

Coming up, need an escape this holiday weekend? Who doesn't? The movies might just be the place. That's after a very quick break.

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[Yasmin Bisougi]

Who's ready for some football?

[Jonathan Allen]

All season, the Today show takes you inside the game.

[Chloe Melas]

We are going to get this party started.

[Jonathan Allen]

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[Yasmin Bisougi]

Football food soup to nuts.

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From stadium lights to game day bites, the Today show is your home for all things football every morning on NBC.

[Yasmin Bisougi]

Welcome back to here's the scoop of NBC News. There is nothing like the Thanksgiving pastime of huddling around a screen. From waking up early to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on NBC, to taking a post pie nap, to the sound of classic football matchups. But studios are hoping Americans will spend their holiday weekend at the movie theater.

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[Yasmin Bisougi]

That is right. Just like Glinda to Elphaba in Wicked, Hollywood is looking for green cash that is movie theater box offices fell to a 27 year low last month, not counting the COVID pandemic after Halloween weekend became the worst grossing weekend of the year. Now with a new slate of films, could moviegoers lift up the film industry over Thanksgiving? I wanna bring in now NBC News entertainment correspondent Chloe Melas.

[Chloe Melas]

Hey there. Hi Chloe. So excited to be here.

[Yasmin Bisougi]

It has been, as I mentioned, this historic low for movie theaters. How did it become such a disappointment this fall?

[Chloe Melas]

You know, there were a lot of movies that people thought were going to be big box office hits and they just didn't land the way that people were hoping for. One of thou those movies is the Smashing Machine starring Dwayne the Rock Johnson. It's about former amateur wrestler and MMA fighter Mark Kerr. It also stars Emily Blunt. And people were even thinking that maybe there was gonna be like an Oscar nomination for the Rock. Um, I mean, potentially there still could be, but it just didn't do well at the box office. Same thing with Christie. This is another sports autobiographical film and it stars Sydney Sweeney and it's about pioneering boxer Christy Martin. And again, people just didn't get out of their houses to go see these movies in theater.

[Yasmin Bisougi]

I know Wicked for Good just opened right by our parent company NBCUniversal.

[Chloe Melas]

I'm going tomorrow night.

[Yasmin Bisougi]

You are you?

[VRBO Advertiser]

Uh huh.

[Chloe Melas]

With the kids.

[Yasmin Bisougi]

So how's it doing number wise? Especially in comparison to the original Wicked.

[Chloe Melas]

This opening is higher than the first wicked, which earned 1:12.5 million domestically in its opening weekend. So it's looking like this film is actually going to bring in $150 million domestically and $226 million worldwide. So people really want more Wicked. They want music, they want something, a big franchise. Again, it's a sequel and it's a reason to get out for the whole family. And I also want to point out that there's a theme here, Yasmin. There's also Zootopia, right? So Zootopia 2, another sequel franchise, another movie that people are really excited to see. So it's really the family movies at the BO this weekend that's gonna be driving those big numbers. And again, these other movies, you know, like ones that I'm excited for, Hamnet and Marty supreme, which come out around Christmas time. I don't know how they're gonna be there.

[Yasmin Bisougi]

Oh my gosh, tell me.

[Chloe Melas]

Buckle up. All right, so Hamnet comes out on January 9th and it is about William Shakespeare and it is this tragedy about what Hamlet is really based on. And it's about the death of his son and Hamnet. And it's just going to rip your heart out. It's exactly the type of movie that I would leave my house for to cry. Just to cry ugly tears the entire time. Marty Supreme. This stars Timothee Chalamet. It's a ping pong Shaw set in New York city during the 1950s. And he plays Marty Mouser who goes to hell and back in the pursuit of greatness as a ping pong player. And he's getting a lot of Oscar buzz for this movie. I haven't seen either, but I'm so excited.

[Yasmin Bisougi]

So my family traditionally Thanksgiving weekend, when I was a kid, we would always go to the movies Christmas as well. And I think a lot of folks go to the movies on Thanksgiving weekend right after you've like spent too much time talking. Now you want to get out and not talk and just watch something escape reality. So what can folks watch this weekend in the theaters?

[Chloe Melas]

All right, so if you're not into Zootopia 2 or Wicked for good, there is the Running man. But then there's also now you see me, now you don't. Did you ever see this movie? So it's a franchise and it's a heist film. And it has such a star studded cast. Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, isla Fisher. It's 10 years after the events of the second film. A trio of young magicians that go on to have this like crazy heist. And it deals with cryptocurrency. But again, the movies that are gonna make my heart sing are the ones that come out around Christmas and that's Marty supreme and hamnet and also AV Avatar 3. So everybody has been sleeping on this movie. Avatar, Fire and Ash. So it is the third Avatar movie from James Cameron. Nobody's been talking about it.

[Yasmin Bisougi]

For those of you that are Just listening. Chloe has now opened up her arms.

[Chloe Melas]

I do not understand how big it is. I am an entertainment correspondent and I'm we're not talking about Avatar yet. And somebody said it's just because movie, big movie houses, they really just promote a few weeks before. So we're in the throes of Wicked right now where everywhere you turn, you know, the yellow brick road somewhere. But soon everything's gonna be blue. An Avatar. So again, this is gonna be big. Zoe Saldana is back. Who I love Sam Worthington.

[Yasmin Bisougi]

She's so good in that movie.

[Chloe Melas]

Sigourney Weaver. Wow.

[Yasmin Bisougi]

So she's in it still.

[Chloe Melas]

Oh, it's gonna be major.

[Yasmin Bisougi]

Since it seems studios and movie releases have been not great throughout the fall season, are studios optimistic it's gonna get better for the holidays?

[Chloe Melas]

You know, it's hard to say because right now some of the movies that everybody thought were gonna be hits like we just talked about just didn't land with audiences. But I was talking to a film critic, Brian Lowry, who I've known for years, and he called it a bloodbath for the studios so far this year. But he still thinks that this year will do just as well, if not slightly, marginally better than last year's box office. So there's still hope, but it's not like what it was when we were coming along, right? Like when we were growing up and going to the movies. It just because of streaming and all the other ways in which people consume content, there's not as much of a reason to get out of the house and go pay a lot of money to see a movie in theaters. Although I would much prefer to see a movie in theaters.

[Yasmin Bisougi]

Chloe Melas, thank you. All right, we are going to get out of here. We are taking a break for the holiday weekend. We'll be back in your feed on Monday. Don't miss us too much. We are so thankful for you, our listeners. And if you're thankful for us, subscribe to here's the scoop from NBC News. Wherever you get your podcasts, we'll see you Monday. And happy Thanksgiving, everybody.

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