Luigi Mangione charged with murder and Syrian regime collapse a blow for Iran: Morning Rundown
A suspect in the UnitedHealthcare CEO killing is charged with murder. Younger Democrats are battling older lawmakers for powerful positions on House committees. And how the New York Mets can justify paying Juan Soto $765 million.
Here’s what to know today.
Suspect charged with murder in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing
The man accused in the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was charged with murder in New York hours after he was arrested at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania. Luigi Mangione, 26, was charged with one count of murder, three counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of possession of a forged instrument, online court documents showed.
Mangione was charged separately in Pennsylvania with two felonies — forgery and carrying a firearm without a license — and three misdemeanors — tampering with records or identification, possessing instruments of crime and providing false identification to law enforcement.
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Mangione was found at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 240 miles away from New York City, after an employee at the restaurant called police about a suspicious person. Mangione had a gun similar to the one used in the fatal shooting, a gun silencer and a fake ID with the same name the suspected gunman used at a New York City hostel, police said. New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch said investigators also found a handwritten document that “speaks to both his motivation and mindset.” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenney said Mangione appeared to hold “ill will toward corporate America.”
Mangione, of Maryland, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2020 and appeared to have a significant online footprint. On the book review platform Goodreads, he reviewed the “Unabomber Manifesto,” as it’s known, by Ted Kaczynski. On X, Mangione’s posts focused on what he viewed as failures of modern society, and he retweeted posts about masculinity and health, as well as artificial intelligence. Here’s what else we know about the suspect.
And a friend who played in the same Discord group as Mangione recalled playing a game called “Among Us,” in which some players are assigned to be assassins while trying to avoid suspicion from other players. “I just found it extremely ironic that, you know, we were in this game and there could actually be a true killer among us,” the friend said.
Younger Dems eye powerful House committee positions
When Democrats elect their House committee leaders next week, a few high-profile races will be closely watched. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 35, is taking on a more senior colleague, Rep. Gerry Connolly, 74, to be the Oversight Committee’s top Democrat. Rep. Jamie Raskin, 61, is poised to become the Democratic leader on the Judiciary Committee after his bid led Rep. Jerry Nadler, 77, to drop out of the race. Both Ocasio-Cortez and Raskin are among a growing band of House Democrats taking on seasoned veterans for powerful posts. The same is also happening on the Natural Resources Committee and Agriculture Committee.
Seniority has long played an outsized role in determining which Democratic rank-and-file members are selected as their committee leaders, but “the Biden debacle,” as one Democrat working in the Biden administration labeled it, has taught younger Dems that their elders sometimes need to be elbowed out. Some veteran lawmakers are on board with seeing new blood in high-ranking positions. But an influx of younger members could also rid committees of institutional knowledge, one Democratic committee staffer warned.
More Trump transition and politics news:
- Democratic governors at an annual gathering this week in Los Angeles agree they need to shift their focus. It starts with how they react to Trump and his upcoming administration.
- Trump went the more traditional route when selecting agency vet Caleb Vitello to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a decision that will likely help Trump implement his immigration agenda quickly.
- Republican National Committee Treasurer KC Crosbie is running for RNC co-chair to replace Lara Trump, who announced Sunday night she is stepping down from the post.
Regime collapse in Syria also a blow to Iran
The collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime represents a devastating defeat for Iran, the latest in a string of setbacks that have punctured long-held assumptions in the West about Tehran’s military prowess. After a mass uprising against Assad in 2011, Syria had support from Russia and Iran, but this time around, Iran was caught off guard at a difficult moment. Its military has been depleted by Israeli air raids and its proxy forces in Lebanon decimated from fighting with Israel, current and former U.S. officials said. So when the rebels pressed ahead this time, there was no concerted effort to stop them.
The dramatic events over the weekend marked “a fundamental change in the equation of the entire Middle East,” a senior Biden administration official said. Iran’s weakened position has challenged prevailing assumptions in Washington and other capitals about Iran’s power and resilience, as well as expectations about how a direct clash between Israel and Iran would play out, former U.S. intelligence officials and experts said.
More coverage of Syria:
- Jubilant Syrians toppled statues, honked horns, waved flags and cheered in the streets to celebrate Assad’s ouster.
- The extremist past of Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, who led the rebellion that toppled Assad’s brutal regime, casts a shadow over his future.
- The U.S. is engaged in efforts to bring home Austin Tice, the American journalist who disappeared 12 years ago. His family told NBC News’ Lester Holt that they have renewed hope that he will finally return home.
Read All About It
- A lawyer for Shawn Carter, the hip-hop mogul known as Jay-Z, asked a judge to deny a request to remain anonymous from the woman who accused him of raping her when she was 13.
- A jury acquitted Daniel Penny in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely, whose final moments on a New York City subway train were captured in a bystander video that drew national attention.
- Disney influencer Dominique Brown died at the age of 34 after reportedly experiencing a severe allergic reaction at a holiday brand event in Los Angeles.
- “Polarization” is Merriam-Webster’s 2024 word of the year. Several other words being considered were associated with politics.
Staff Pick: How the New York Mets can justify a $765 million contract
Outfielder Juan Soto’s 15-year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets is set to be the most expensive in MLB history and instantly vaults him ahead of three-time MVP Shohei Ohtani as the game’s highest-paid player. Yet Soto is not exactly a household name, and he hasn’t even stayed on a single team for more than four full seasons. So how was he able to get this bag? A simple answer: Mets owner Steve Cohen is no ordinary owner, and his approach to the team is rare. — Rob Wile, business reporter
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