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Good morning. I'm Nathan Hager and.
I'm Karen Moscow. Here are the stories we're following today.
Karen, we begin once again with the arrest of a suspect accused of murdering United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson on the Manhattan Street. Let's get the very latest now at Bloomberg's John Tucker.
John, Good morning, Nathan. The drama surrounding the intense manhunt for the suspected shooter. Twenty six year old Luigi Mangione has now morphed into a legal drama over his extradition from Pennsylvania to New York. He's fighting it. As he was letting antel the Blair County Courthouse, he yelled to reporters please out. Has a defense attorney, Thomas Dicky, says his client intends to plead not guilty to all charges.
We're going to use the process and use the constitution and the rights that are available to any one of us room and any Americans, a citizen or person charged with a crime fighting extradition.
By some time, he may gain some discovery by forcing authorities to show what probable cause or evidence they have a Police have already said that evidence includes written admissions about the crime. Meantime, in the weeks leading up to the killing, friends and family worried about the accused shooter. ABC tracked down a former roommate in Hawaii says Mangione struggled with a back injury.
The severity of his back issue is such that it was very difficult to have physical relationships with women.
Mangioni also posted about brain fog and sciatica, at one point writing it's absolutely brutal to have such a life halting issue. While the extradition battle unfolds, Al Tuna police say some threats have been made against their officers. The deputy police chief, Derek Swape said this is clearly a very polarized case in New York. I'm John Tucker, Bloomberg Radio.
All right, John, thank you. While we want to turn now to the latest developments in the Middle East. Israel has increased its attacks on military sites in Syria. The Israeli military claims as strikes are to prevent strategic weapons from falling into the hands of terrorists. We yet more from Bloomberg Middle East correspondent Jumani Birsecci.
It's been an extremely intense military campaign that started right after the regime fell. The Israeli Air Force has now said that they've launched more than three hundred raids in various parts of Syria, so not specific to Damascus. They've been striking most of the strategic weapons stockpiles. They've also targeted navy facilities, air force airfields, weapons production sites, even
naval vessels as well. We're hearing off the coast of Latakia the idea of estimate that they've actually managed to eliminate seventy to eighty percent of Syria's entire military capabilities.
Bloomberg Middle Age corresponded. Jumana Barseeci says Israel is weary of the opposition groups that brought down but Sharla Sadz government. The rebels are led by Hayatarira al Sham and Islamist group are richly affiliated with al Qaeda.
Now, Karen, let's get to the latest on the Trump transition. President to like, Donald Trump has made more key appointments, including Andrew Ferguson to lead the Federal Trade Commission. We get more from Bloomberg's stud Prisner.
Ferguson is one of two Republican members on the FTC, so his appointment will not require Senate confirmation. The chair of the agency is a politically charged role currently held by Lena Kahn.
Now.
Ferguson joined the FTC in April, and he has dissented from several of Khan's rule making efforts, including a ban on non compete clauses in employment contracts and rules making it easier to cancel subscriptions. Now, Ferguson will have to navigate between competing interest within the GOP on one side populist regulatory hawks and on the other establishment conservatives in business groups. In New York Time, Doug Prisoner, Bloomberg.
Radio, all Right, Doug, thank you well. Along with the FTC pick, President elect Shrump has filled several more diplomatic posts. He's named Ronald Johnson as his ambassador to Mexico. Johnson served as ambassador to El Salvador in Trump's first term. The president elect has also tapped Colony Capital founder Tom Barrack to be his ambassador to Turkey and Scott Besson,
Trump's picked to serve as Treasury Secretary. Is planning to meet with several Republican senators today as he continues to build support for his nomination.
Turn to markets now, Karen.
The dollar is strengthening on a report Chinese leaders are considering allowing their currency to weaken as they brace for higher tariffs under a second Trump presidency. Meanwhile, stocks have fallen for two straight sessions. Peter Cheer, head of macro strategy at Academy Security, says stocks are at lofty levels.
I do think we are a little bit over our skes. Again, it's very hard to get a big sell off. I think in December seasonality tends to be good, but I do see a lot of froth building up in the market. I think people have also become overly complacent on Trump. I think they forget that he likes chaos, and now that everyone's decided, oh, these are all just negotiating employees with China, We're set up for a little bit of failure as we see real friction emerge.
Academy Securities, Peter cheeroes this s P five hundred is up more than twenty six percent so far this year.
Well, Nathan, the direction of the markets today and next week's FED decision may be impacted by a key economic reading. This morning at eight thirty am, Wall Street time to get the latest reading on inflation, but the consumer price index for November, we get a preview with Bloomberg's Michael.
McKee headline, Inflation is forecast to have ticked up in November. Will that derail of FED rate cut next week? Probably not. The FED will be most interested in the composition of inflation. The largest contributor to higher prices is housing, and it's not getting any cheaper. The question is will the rate of increase slow. Used car prices are also expected up a question of demand used car sales, and therefore prices tend to rise after natural disasters like October's hurricanes. Also
on watch auto insurance. All things a FED rate cut likely warned influence Michael McKee, Bloomberg Radio.
I might thank.
Several companies are in the news this morning, including SpaceX. The value of Lawn Musk's rocket company has jumped to about three hundred and fifty billion dollars. That's because, according to an email to employees seen by Bloomberg, investors have agreed to purchase as much as one and a quarter billion dollars of SpaceX common shares at one hundred and eighty five.
Dollars a piece.
Sources tell us that share prices up from the one hundred and twelve dollars established during a previous valuation.
As of late September, Well Nathan, one of musk competitors and another one of his other businesses, is making a strategic move. General Motors is shutting down its Cruise Robotaxi program, citing high development costs and reputational risks. GM invested more than nine billion dollars in Cruise and at one point rivaled Google parent Alphabet's Waimo for robotaxi supremacy and San
Francisco and other cities. Both Alphabet and Tesla have trillion dollar market caps that dwarf GM's fifty eight billion dollar valuation.
Well, Karen Kroger may have to shop for a new takeover target.
A federal judge has blocked the supermarket chain's twenty four point six billion dollar acquisition of Albertsons. The judge the takeover with lesson competition for grocery shoppers. Kroger rose more than five percent on the news, while Albertsons fell two point three percent.
And nathan Us Steel and dropped almost ten percent, sources a President Biden plans to formally block the fourteen point one billion dollars sale of the company to nip On Steel on national security grounds. The fate of the once fabled US steelmaker has become a hot political issue since the company reached an agreement to be taken over by
its Japanese suitor almost a year ago. US Steel has so the deal represents a lifeline and warned it may move its headquarters out of Pennsylvania and shutter some operations if the merger collapses. Time now for a look at some of the other stories making news in New York and around the world, and for that we're joined by Bloomberg's Michael Barr. Michael, good Morning.
Good morning. Karen. The marine veteran who choked a volatile, mentally ill man on a New York subway, is speaking about the incident. Daniel Penny, recently acquitted of criminally negligent homicide, says he couldn't have lived with himself if he hadn't acted. Penny put Jordan Neely in a choke hold for about six minutes after Neely had an outburst that frightened riders on a subway car.
He was just threatening to kill people. Who's threatening to go to jail forever, go to jail for the rest of his life. And now where I'm on the ground with him, I'm on my back in a very vulnerable position.
Daniel Penny spoke to Fox News. Meanwhile, scores of New Yorker's protest at the trial outcome last evening. About twenty thousand residents in Malibu, California, are under evacuation orders and alerts as a fire burning near the city now spans more than four square miles and remains zero percent contained. Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Morone says more than fifteen hundred firefighters have been assigned to fight the blazes.
Over thirteen federal, state, and local agency aircraft were assigned to the fire, and a number of those aerial resources will remain flying throughout the night.
Chief Maron says a few homes have been burned and damaged, but the exact number is not yet known. Former Defense Minister Kim Jong un attempted to kill himself in South Korea, but failed to do so. Kim tried to kill himself at a detention center in Seoul. Kim was arrested earlier today after a sole court approved a warrant for him on allegations of playing a key role in a rebellion
and committing abuse of power. He became the first person arrested over the short lived martial law decree earlier this month. Kim is said now to be in stable condition. Global News twenty four hours a day and whenever you want it with Bloomberg News Now. I'm Michael Barr, and this is Bloomberg Caron.
All right, Michael Barr, thank you time now for the Bloomberg Sports Update. It's brought to you I try state OUTI here's John Stashawer, John, good morning.
Good morning Karen. The Yankees are willing to pay one Soto about forty eight million dollars a year, and obviously they are now not doing that, so they've got money to spend elsewhere, and they have added a frontline starting pitcher, Max Freed. Over his last five seasons with Atlanta had the second lowest dra and the majors among starters. The Yanks are giving Freed an eight year contract that takes him to age thirty eight. It's for two hundred and
eighteen million dollars. That's the most ever for a leftyes for their offense. Help could come into possible trade with the Cardinals for eight time All Star, ten time Gold Glove winning third baseman Nolan and Aaronado. His agent was given permission to seek a deal, and the Yanks said to be among the teams interested. With Soto on the Mets, Does that mean Pete Alonzo will not re sign? Mets gentlemenager David Stern spoke with sn Y.
We love Pete and we've been consistent about that throughout Pizza A really good met and we'll see where the off season goes. I'm not going to make any predictions, but we understand what Pete has met to our franchise and we're gonna see how the rest of the offseason plays out.
One other signing last night Texas is keeping starter Nathan Neval the NBA Cup Quarterfinals, Milwaukee got thirty seven points from Gianni's son to the Compo beat Orlando one fourteen one oh nine, thirty nine points for Shay Gilgess Alexander and Oklahoma City's one eighteen one oh four went over Dallas, so the Bucks and Thunder advance the Saturday Semifinals in Las Vegas, and the Knicks hoping to join them. They need to beat at LNT to tonight at the Garden.
Rangers played tonight in Buffalo. Blue Shorts lost only four of their first seventeen games. They've dropped eight of their last ten. Islanders last night lost to the Kings three to one. Devils lost two one in overtime to Toronto. Bruins lost in Winnipeg eight to one. College hoops with the Garden, Tennessee now ranked number one first time in six years, and the Balls went to nine to zero, all nine by double digits seventy five sixty two over Miami.
Also at MSG, Arkansas, now coached by John Caliperi, came from fifteen down beat Michigan by two. Rutgers beat Penn State eighty six. John Starshawer Bloomberg Sport Karen Ethan.
Coast to coast on Bloomberg Radio, nationwide on Sirius XM, and around the world on Bloomberg dot Com and the Bloomberg Business app.
This is Bloomberg Daybreak. Good morning, I'm Nathan Hager.
The five day man hunt for the suspect in United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson's murder is now a drawn out legal fight. Luigi Mangioni is fighting extradition to New York. His attorney, Thomas Dicky, says he will plead not guilty.
The burden's always on the government, thank god, and that's start burden, and they're going to have to produce some evidence and we're anxious to see it.
Attorney Thomas Dicky spoke in Altuna, Pennsylvania, where Mangioni remains held, this morning, and from where we are joined by Bloomberg News Senior editor Bill Ferries. Bill, good morning, Waving. Extradition does drag this case out potentially for quite a while, but we've already seen quite a bit of evidence against Luigi Mangioni.
Good morning, Hey, good morning.
Yeah. I think Mangioni and is his attorney are going to try to slow this process down. I mean, we got used to this, you know, this five day manhunt where things were happening every day. We were getting little kind of drip feeds of of evidence and uh and some news about where uh Mangioni, the you know, the alleged suspect here was moving around, where he was going, what he had on him.
Uh.
But yeah, this is gonna slow down considerably in the coming weeks as he fights that extradition. We have seen police reports have put out some evidence so far. They say they found basically a ghost gun and and a silencer suppressor that appeared to have been three D printed. He did have some sort of a manifesto against the health insurance industry on him, and I think we've seen some brief excerpts of that, and I'm sure more will be coming.
Uh.
And of course, you know, just to initially investigate this crime, there was a considerable amount of use of you know, looking at a CCTV videotapes from around New York City, including all the way to the bus station. Still a lot of questions in this case, but fighting that extradition gives Mangioni a chance to perhaps look for a stronger legal team in New York, if that's what he wants
to do. And it also allows him to avoid going into Rikers Island prison right now, which is most likely where he would be sent if he waived extradition and went to New York.
So a lot of questions still to be answered, Bill, but I think one of the biggest questions for many people watching this case is how does someone with the kind of privileged background that Luigi Mangioni has wind up being a suspect in a mid ten Manhattan murder.
Yeah, that's going to be a huge part of this just kind of you how do you evolve from one to the other. There he went to obviously one of the most elite schools in the country, Gilman School in Baltimore, University of Pennsylvania. He even taught a class for summer high school students at Stanford University in AI, so a
really shocking change. There's been a lot of digging into his social media profile, some questions about whether maybe he had chronic back pain as a result of some kind of a surfing accident or other sports accident, and whether you know that may be linked to his complaints or frustrations about the insurance industry that I think as those are the kind of things that I expect to see coming out in the weeks ahead as he fights extradition
and perhaps makes prosecutors release a little bit more information about what you know, what they've collected in the last week or so.
And in our last thirty seconds bill this is really sent a shutter through the health insurance industry.
Hasn't end, Yeah, it has.
I think you're seeing all the frustrations that a lot of people have about the cost of healthcare and and you know, claims being denied. I think that's turning up in some of the support you're seeing for man Gioni saying he's, you know, supporting this kind of vigilante action that Governor Sapiro and Pennsylvania and others have been speaking out against.
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I'm Karen Moscow and I'm Nathan Hager.
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