Brian Thompson murder investigation and insurer halts anesthesia policy change: Morning Rundown

Donald Trump overshadows Joe Biden in the lead-up to Inauguration Day. Police reveal new details about the movements of the gunman in CEO’s death. And Brigham Young University’s first Jewish quarterback gets a fitting sponsorship deal.

Here’s what to know today.

Trump isn’t president yet, but he’s starting to act like it

Donald Trump won’t take office for another 45 days, but in some ways, it feels like he has.

The President-elect will join French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris this weekend for the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral. He has rattled Mexico and Canada with threats of steep tariffs, prompting a visit to Mar-a-Lago from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. And he has warned on social media there would be “hell to pay” unless hostages are freed from Gaza before Inauguration Day.

In other words, Trump is crowding out President Joe Biden as he winds down his term and steadily recedes from public view.

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“Given the weakness of the current president and the speed at which things develop in the modern world, Trump is, in effect, a presumptive president,” said Newt Gingrich, a Republican former House speaker and Trump ally. “Certainly foreign governments are treating him that way.”

If Biden is unhappy about being upstaged, he hasn’t offered any hints. In fact, Trump’s interventions may prove helpful to the degree they complement Biden’s larger goals. Trump’s warning to Hamas about freeing hostages could for example help as the Biden administration works to secure their release in exchange for a ceasefire.

Still, there’s only so much Trump can do while Biden is still in office.

Read the full story here.

Read more Trump transition and politics news:

• Billionaire Elon Musk spent more than $250 million to boost Trump’s 2024 campaign, including more than $20 million into a mysterious “RBG PAC.”

• Musk and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, the duo Trump tasked with finding ways to overhaul the federal budget and bureaucracy, began in-person discussions with congressional Republicans. Here’s who they met with.

• The acting Secret Service director and a Republican congressman got into a screaming match during the final hearing of the House task force that investigated the assassination attempts against Trump.

Police track past travel of UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter

The gunman who fatally shot Brian Thompson is still at large after the “preplanned targeted attack” on the UnitedHealthcare CEO on Wednesday in New York City. Here’s what we’ve learned.

➡️ Investigators believe the shooter may have traveled from Atlanta to New York last month, three senior law enforcement officials said, and are working with Greyhound to see whether they can find a name from tickets purchased.

➡️ Police are also looking into whether the gunman paid in cash and used a fake ID to rent a room at a hostel on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

➡️ The gunman bought a water bottle and two protein bars from a nearby Starbucks before the shooting, according to a senior New York City law enforcement official.

Here’s what else we know about the investigation.

Many people on social media celebrated and mocked Thompson’s murder. On a Facebook post by the UnitedHealth Group about Thompson’s death, most people reacted with the “laughter” emoji. In Reddit posts, users posted memes that congratulated the shooter. Journalist Taylor Lorenz, who previously wrote for the New York Times and Washington Post, wrote in Bluesky post, “and people wonder why we want these executives dead.”

Climate activist Tobita Chow, whose own X post about Thompson’s death was widely shared, said the reactions and comments he has seen illustrate populist anger at the private health insurance system.

But researchers said the rhetoric was a worrying sign of radicalization and coincides with a rise in threats against health care industry professionals since the pandemic. “The framing of this incident as some opening blow in a class war and not a brutal murder is especially alarming,” one researcher said.

Read more about the reaction to Thompson’s death.

Insurer halts anesthesia payment policy after backlash

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield has reversed a decision to limit reimbursements for anesthesia during surgery and medical procedures based on time limits it had set. The policy would have capped the length of time anesthesia can be covered during procedures in Connecticut, New York and Missouri beginning in February. Typically, there is no set time limit for anesthesia, and it is administered for as long as a surgery takes — a decision determined by the doctor performing the procedure.

Anthem BCBS’s policy change was quietly announced last month but went unnoticed until the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson this week sparked a wave of vitriol about the U.S. health care system and thrust Anthem BCBS’s decision into the spotlight. “It never was and never will be the policy of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield to not pay for medically necessary anesthesia services,” a spokesperson for the insurer said. Read the full story here.

An uncertain job market

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ jobs data for November will be released today and is expected to show the unemployment rate to have climbed slightly, from 4.1% to 4.2% and 214,000 jobs added.

While the unemployment rate remains historically low, there has rarely been a worse time to in recent history to be looking for a job. Part of the problem appears to be a dramatic shift in the labor market. A Gallup poll found U.S. workers are seeking new opportunities at high rates because they’re dissatisfied with their current jobs — but hiring managers are contending with smaller budgets and shifting personnel.

Read All About It

• NASA said its next moon mission will be delayed until 2026, but it still has its sights set on landing astronauts on the lunar surface before China.

Staff Pick: ‘BYJew’ gets a kosher brand deal

The era of the college athlete signing lucrative deals with big brands has been with us for a few years now. Nike, Adidas and other big sports apparel companies are usually the ones inking contracts with the top athletes in the country for use of their name, image or likeness (NIL).

So, what a delight to read about the first Jewish quarterback in Brigham Young University’s history signing an NIL deal with the kosher Jewish food brand I associate with matzo, macaroons and the end caps of chain grocery stores around Passover. Sports editor Greg Rosenstein reports that Manischewitz will sponsor Jake Retzlaff, who led the Cougars to a 10-2 season. And yes, he does go by “BYJew.” Mazel tov to all involved! — Richie Duchon, deputy director of platforms

NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified

Here are two gift guides worth checking out today:

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This article was originally published on NBCNews.com