The News Not Noise Letter: Murder, He Underwrote
The brazen killing of a health insurance CEO sparks discussion of claims disputed and denied. Plus: Big news for TikTok and Hegseth goes for broke.
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Here Are Your Headlines
Life and Death: Early Wednesday morning, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot outside of a hotel in Midtown Manhattan. Despite occurring in one of the most busy, surveilled, and policed areas in the country, authorities have still failed to identify or catch the assailant. Here’s what we know: Police reportedly found bullet casings with the words “depose” and “delay” written on them. This could be a sign the shooter was motivated by a personal grievance against the company, private health insurance in general — or a form of misdirection. Thompson’s wife also told NBC News that her husband had received threats, perhaps about “a lack of coverage,” though she said she didn’t know the “details.” The two were reportedly separated.
Shaken, Not Stirred: Surveillance footage shows a masked, hooded suspect shooting Thompson using a gun with a silencer. He then flees, first on foot, then by a waiting e-bike, eventually disappearing into Central Park, where large parts are unmonitored by cameras. Today, officials found what they think is the suspect’s backpack, and have sent it for forensic testing. They also believe the suspect managed to take a bus out of New York City. He remains at large.
Premeditated: The New York City Police Department has a budget of $5.8 billion. For context, that would make it the world’s 35th-largest military by spending. They are good at tracking suspects and they’re using the city’s extensive surveillance system to trace the assailant’s early steps. Images show a man wearing a dark hooded jacket, gray backpack, and black mask in a Starbucks buying water and energy bars before walking to the site of the shooting. Now the bottle and wrappers are sources of DNA evidence. (Even would-be assassins need their morning pick-me-up.) Video of the 6:45 a.m. assassination also shows the suspect was able to quickly clear a gun jam, demonstrating some proficiency in firearms. Officials have obtained a cell phone, though haven’t been able to break into it.
Pretty Boy: Officials say the assassin was staying at a local hostel, where employees say this male guest always wore a mask except once. He reportedly pulled his mask down at the request of a female employee, who said she was flirting with him. That afforded police an image of the man’s face — and the internet has now dubbed him the #HotAssassin.
Cultural Conversation: This tragic incident has quickly become a starting point for a discussion about the flaws of the private health insurance system. We’ll explore that below.
Clock is Ticking: Today, a federal appeals court panel unanimously decided that TikTok should, in fact, be banned by January 19 — unless its China-based parent company, ByteDance, allows it to be sold. Both TikTok and ByteDance have argued this divestment would be impossible. Trump, who during his first term supported a ban, has since pledged to “save TikTok,” perhaps by asking Congress to repeal the law mandating TikTok’s sale.
Real Winners: Several prominent business leaders, including former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, have already expressed interest in purchasing the platform. They’ve formed a group with a reported $20 billion in informal commitments.
Saving Grace? TikTok plans on appealing the decision to the Supreme Court, though it remains unclear if Justices will agree to hear the case.
Saving Private Hegseth: After allowing Pete Hegseth to endure a barrage of bad media, Donald Trump today stepped up his public support for Hegseth, posting on Truth Social that he is “doing very well” and his support is “deep and strong.” That’s a bit surprising, coming after leaks from Trump’s team of possible replacements for that role. Hegseth himself remains defiant, telling reporters he answers to “none of you” — only Trump, the Senate, Jesus Christ, and his wife (presumably that would be his current and third wife), and insisting that he will refocus the DoD on “lethality.” The FBI is reportedly at last conducting a background check on him. Despite all this, one Republican senator said Hegseth’s nomination is “on the death watch,” noting that seven or eight of his colleagues are against the controversial nominee.
Clockwork Orange: Trump has nominated Rodney S. Scott to run Customs and Border Protection.
History of Violence: As a chief border patrol agent in San Diego, Scott’s agents infamously fired tear gas at migrants; he also told Politico that many teenage migrants should be thought of as “hardened adults” who might be “associated with the gangs.” Scott was previously the head of Border Patrol from 2020 to 2021. During that time, the Trump administration invoked Title 42, which allowed Scott to expel migrants without due process. During his tenure at CPB, Scott also deployed federal agents to Portland, Oregon, for the stated purpose of protecting federal property during protests after the George Floyd murder. In all, the federal government sent 750 federal agents to Portland, where many clashed with protesters, often without proper identification and untrained in crowd control, despite that being their mission. Hundreds of injuries were reported, and the operation cost over $12 million.
Headlines from Around the World
Blyat! Today Romania invalidated the results of a recent and controversial presidential election. The country’s high court made the unprecedented decision after their sitting president declassified intelligence alleging that Russia interfered by promoting social media accounts — especially through TikTok — backing a little-known pro-Russia candidate. They plan to hold another presidential election and the incumbent remains in office until then.
Bombshell Finding: The International Atomic Energy Agency, a nuclear watchdog, warned today that Iran is “dramatically” increasing its enrichment of uranium bringing it closer to having a nuclear bomb. Iran denies its racing to a bomb.
Pandemic Watch: A strange new illness, currently called “Disease X,” is circulating in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Health authorities say almost 400 people have been infected, 79 have died; the majority of the infected are children and skew female. “Situations like this occur probably several times a year around the world,” one expert told NPR, and most times the mystery illness is identified and contained. Local and international teams are monitoring the situation and working to identify the disease.
Unhealthy Attachments
The shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has sparked a national conversation around the health insurance industry and its business practices. Before we get into that, though, we’d like to remind you about a new AI tool developed to help you fight denied insurance claims; that’s news you can use! Read more about it in our issue from a few weeks back here.
Industry Response:
