Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected the initial version of the $908B bipartisan stimulus package today. However, internal talks have begun around a compromised and revised version and he believes there is no reason a stimulus can't be passed in December. The stalemate marks continued months of congressional inaction on fighting economic harm due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered a new proposal for a stimulus package and McConnell said that the Republicans are discussing a revised version that has the backing of President Donald Trump. 
• McConnell stated that a must-pass spending bill and pandemic relief stimulus would likely come in the same deal as Congress needs to approve funding legislation by Dec. 11 in order to avoid a government shutdown.
• The proposal would not include direct payment to most Americans but would include $288B for small businesses, $160B in state and local government relief, and $180B to fund a $300 per week supplemental unemployment benefit through March. 

Attorney General William Barr said in a new interview that the U.S. Department of Justice has not found evidence of large-scale ballot fraud. The remarks stand at odds with many in the Trump Administration. 

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• Barr stated: “To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election." 
• The attorney general stated that federal prosecutors and FBI agents have looked into complaints they have received about possible fraud but investigators have not found problems with anywhere near the number of ballots to would compromise Biden's win.
• Barr stated that most claims of fraud were particularized to a specific set of circumstances and were not systemic allegations. 
• Attorneys working for Trump rejected Barr's assessment and doubled down saying they have ample evidence of illegal voting in at least six states. 
• Barr was reportedly seen entering the White House after the Associated Press broke the story. 

Facebook is set to launch a separate news tab in the U.K. and license articles by U.K. publishers. Publishers including Guardian, the Daily Mirror, and The Independent, as well as magazines like the Economist, have signed multiyear deals with Facebook.

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• Facebook’s revenue from Europe was around 50% of its revenue from the U.S. and Canada division for the last three years.
• The news tab will feature stories curated by its contractors and its recommendation algorithm.
• In October, Google announced that it would pay $1B to license news from publishers for its Google News product. Though the product would be first rolled out in Germany and Brazil, Google has already signed deals with 200 publications in Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, the U.K., and Australia.
• Facebook launched a News tab in the U.S during June and said that it has paid-partnerships with the participating publishers.

FaceBook buys Kustomer:

• Facebook is buying Kustomer, a customer relationship management (CRM) company, in a $1B deal to improve its social commerce offerings. This would be Facebook's largest acquisition in terms of deal size since its Oculus acquisition in March 2014, and its third-largest acquisition overall. 
• Kustomer enables companies to gather customer data from different channels and view it on a single screen. It also provides chatbot services.

A version of this article first appeared in Inside Business. You can read the full issue here. 

YouTube released a list of its Top 10 trending videos from the year 2020, with a monologue by Dave Chappelle landing in the #1 spot. The 27-minute clip, titled "8:46," featured Chappelle's reaction to the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers, and was posted to the "Netflix Is a Joke" channel in June.

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• "8:46" was not monetized, and the description encouraged viewers to donate to the Equal Justice Initiative.
• The Top Ten list also included Mark Rober's DIY guide for building a squirrel-proof bird feeder; the "Saturday Night Live" parody of the first Trump-Biden debate, featuring Alec Baldwin and Jim Carrey; a breakup announcement video from Jeffree Star; Ricky Gervais' monologue as Golden Globes host; and an "Office" reunion on John Krasinski's "Some Good News" series.
• YouTube also released a list of its Top 10 2020 music videos, which included Future's "Life is Good" featuring Drake, Tekashi 6ix9ine's "GOOBA" and "We Paid," from Lil Baby and 42 Dugg.
• YouTube's "top creators" of the year included MrBeast, Dream, ZHC, SSSniperwolf, and Tiko.

This story first appeared in Inside Streaming. You can read the full issue here. 

QUICK HITS: 

• During this holiday season, find out how SimpliSafe is protecting over 3 million homes with less markup and more security.*
• The S&P 500 rose 1% to reach a new record high today. 
• Under Armour will launch the Curry Brand as part of its partnership with NBA superstar Stephen Curry. Under Armour aims to compete against Nike's Jordan Brand and plans to leverage Curry's popularity amongst younger consumers.
• "Umbrella Academy" star Elliot Page, formerly known as Ellen Page, shared they are transgender and non-binary. 
• Telsa CEO Elon Musk stated that if a rival car company asked about a merger, he would be open to the conversation. 
• Revtown's changing the denim game by applying the best parts of workout clothes—comfort, flexibility & durability—to jeans.*

*This is a sponsored post.