Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And good morning. I'm Larry Mente in the Big Three,
the CEO of the nation's largest healthcare insurance company, United Healthcare,
is gunned down on the streets of New York City.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
You know this is not a random attack, I can
tell you this is more of like an assassination attempt.
There was a pre planned motive definitely here. I don't
know who the individual was. Was this that hitman? Was
this someone who was disgruntled, but there is no coincidence here.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
The manhunt is on for the assassin who fled the
scene on a city bike and disappeared into Central Park.
No verdict in the Daniel Penny trial yet, as the
jury asks for evidence and testimony to review.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Criminally negligent homicide is actually what's called a lesser including
offense of manslaughter. So basically it has a lower mensral,
a lower intent, so instead of recklessness, it's criminal negligence.
So it's one or the other, manslaughter being the higher
level charge.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
It's one of those two. Jury deliberation continue today, or
it's a hung jewelry or an outright acquittal, which I
think most of us are hoping for. And Donald Trump's
nominee for Secretary of Defense, veteran and Fox News host
Pete Hegseth is not giving up the fight despite accusations
(01:20):
of sexual misconduct, heavy drinking, and financial mismanagement. He says
it's all a smear job and Donald Trump wants him
to keep on fighting. He said, I want a warfighter.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
I want lethality, lethality, lethality.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
I want readiness, accountability, standards, warfighting. Pete, that's you. That's me, cleanhouse,
and I gotta add one more, have to, because how
can I leave it out. The Christmas Tree at Rockefeller
Center is officially lit. The Rockefeller sent your Christmas Tree
(02:07):
now shining bright on view for everyone to see from
all across the country through mid January. The tree will
be lit daily from five am to midnight, and on
Christmas Eve it'll be lit for twenty four hours, and
then again on New Year's Eve from five am to
nine pm. It is a wonderful time of year in
(02:28):
the city. And with that, let's get right to Laura
curR and political commentator and former NASA County executive. Laura,
did you ever go down to see the Christmas Tree?
Speaker 5 (02:38):
I hate to say, it's one of those things I've
never done and have no desire to do.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
WHOA, wow, I know.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
I just wanted to play that again for you because
that's what you missed.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
My god, there's shivers went up my spine.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
It's like in the freezing cold with a bunch of
people looking at something that happens every year. It's kind
of like New Year's even times square. It's just not
my jam and God bless it if it's yours, you know,
go at it.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
Have a ball in your way.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
When you were a kid, did you want to go
see it?
Speaker 4 (03:15):
No, but you've seen the tree.
Speaker 5 (03:18):
You just haven't seen me walk by it, you know,
sort of yeah, like, but I haven't made a point
of going to see the tree.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Wow, you are ruining Christmas as this.
Speaker 5 (03:31):
But it's like it happens every year. It's completely predictable.
It's always the same, Like, why would I take time
out of my life to go do that.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
I thought Larry was the scrooge in the studio right now,
but I think it might be Laura a little shop.
I'm slowly revealing my true nature.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
It's the same every year, she says.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
I mean seriously, like, how predictable is this?
Speaker 5 (03:58):
And going to my show going to a movie something
you've never seen before that I get.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Do you want a surprise ending? No?
Speaker 4 (04:08):
I don't even care. Wow, Wow, what could be surprising?
Speaker 1 (04:12):
What a downery you've started? You know what?
Speaker 5 (04:16):
I bet there's a bunch of people out there in
radio land listening saying you know what?
Speaker 4 (04:21):
I agree?
Speaker 5 (04:21):
Yeah, leave us a talk back.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
Go to this iHeartRadio app, Go to seven ten war,
click on the red microphone and let us know if
you feel how Laura feels about Christmas.
Speaker 5 (04:32):
Yeah, I'm not, you know, I'm not like anti Christmas
in any way. I love I always overdo the presence,
you know, like I'm really into it.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
I'm just Oh, so you like the commercial aspect of Christmas?
Speaker 4 (04:46):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
I wanted to talk to you if I could for
a second about sanctuary cities and yeah, and the fact
that the Trump administration, especially in the beginning, just wants
to come in and get all the criminals out, and
they're putting it seems like they're putting the mayor in
this uncomfortable situation because he agrees with that, but he
has to be careful of what he says and who's
(05:14):
tozy steps on. I'm assuming this you were the politician.
I'm just assuming that's what happened. What's happening because he
always seems to start to come out for it and
say it's a good thing, and then gets a little
bit reserved. Do you think he's in a tough place
on this.
Speaker 5 (05:29):
I think he actually is in a place of strength
if he just comes out and says, look, you know,
we are responsible. This is what I did when I
was county executing, when I was campaigning for the job
in the first place. The number one job of local
government especially is public safety, and we have to be
able to allow our police officers to cooperate with federal
agencies responsibly. I'm not saying, you know, just go there
(05:52):
and go crazy, but in a responsible way to get
criminals off the streets. And if that means working with
the FBI and working with ICE or whoever it may be,
then I think you've got to allow local municipalities to
do that. I think it's a common sense approach. I
think most people would agree with it. There are a
few people who won't like it. The other the other
(06:13):
aspect of this is, you know, you also have to
work at building trust between police and the communities. Especially
the immigrant communities, because the last thing you want is
people who are victims of crimes or witnesses to be
afraid to come forward and and talk about what's happening.
And so you you, you know, it's like you've got
to work it from many angles. You've got to build
(06:33):
the trust you've got, and you've got to be able
to reassure people who have not committed crimes that nothing's
going to happen to them. Kind Of it's a challenge,
but it's certainly possible to do. And I think that's
something we did in Nessa County when I was county
exec Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
And the reason I said, he always he says something.
It's usually after a crime, if somebody's murdered or somebody
gets assaulted. He will say something about the fact that
they have to change the laws and then these soft
on crime policies and the sanctuary city status. He'll say that.
But he has the power of mayor. I would think
to do a little bit more than that. Why why
(07:12):
is any going up to Albany the UH about the
bail reform and why does any go to city council
and and and give a big speech in front of
city council try to force their hands. He never seems
to want to take the next step.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
You know, I agree, I see the same thing. It's
like he puts his toe in the water. He sort
of says things that make you think, Okay, here we go,
and then it never quite he never quite goes there.
And I guess maybe it's fear.
Speaker 6 (07:39):
I don't know what is.
Speaker 5 (07:39):
But at this point, I mean, he you I think
he is rightly called an embattled mayor. He's got all
these investigations going. It's he's you know, all a lot
of his top people are gone for various, you know,
various reasons, some of whom have been investigated.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
At this point, why not.
Speaker 5 (07:53):
Just be yourself and you know, and just say, yes,
this is something that is not working.
Speaker 4 (07:59):
It is not keeping New York safe.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
That is my number one job is public safety, honestly
the number one job. And I've got to be able
to advocate for that in Albany and in Washington. And
it's like he goes up to the line, but something
keeps him back.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
And I'm not sure why that is.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
It's got to be politics, right, And you're right, I mean, is.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
A man even going to be able to run for mayor.
Speaker 5 (08:21):
Like, at this point, who cares?
Speaker 4 (08:23):
So what you're already in battled.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Oh I got a feeling he's hoping for a pardon
from President Trump.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
Yeah, well yeah, I do like romance, Bruins, there's a bromance.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Well, I think that romance is on purpose. I think
that he's probably sending him love notes as as we speak.
Speaker 5 (08:41):
And it benefits both of them. You know, Trump can say, hey, look,
even the Democratic mayor of New York City lifts me.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Oh and absolutely, and then all of a sudden he
could send in you know, Tom Homan, then triple the
ice agents they say they're going to do, and they'll
have the mayor on his side. Oh you know what,
I think we just figured this out. That's all that's
all going to play out, because.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
It being with this whole The thing that concerns me
about this whole mass deportation thing is the effect that
it will have on the economy. So will they just
go after the criminals or will they actually go after
just undocumented workers? Writ large, What will happen to the
housing building industry, What will happen to the farming industry,
What will happen to grocery prices, housing prices is the economy.
I got to think he's got to try very very
(09:22):
carefully with these promises that he made, you know, because
it could it could end up biting him right in
the butt and really hurting Republicans.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Yeah, we've had Tom Homan on the air here and
would love to have him back. And after hearing him talk,
I will tell you, Laura that I don't think they're
ever going to get the mess deportation because if he
goes the way he wants to go, and he keeps saying,
it's going to be those that either have deportation orders,
(09:49):
which would be the second step, but first are those
that have committed crimes. And then it's going to be
to try to find the three hundred thousand children that
are missing. That's how home' is that gonna take exactly.
Speaker 5 (10:02):
And then they can have a few big headlines and
we sent back these really bad guys, you know, and
then and then they can say, you know, the mission accomplished,
and then they don't have to worry about the other
stuff we'll see. I mean, but then, will the MAGA people,
the voters be disappointed, I don't know. Will they think wait,
wait a minute, you promised mass deportation.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
What did you do? You didn't do that right exactly. Hey,
you're gonna I didn't get any of the topics. But
you'll be here.
Speaker 5 (10:24):
Tomorrow and we have so much time to talk about everything.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Absolutely, you can hear more of this brilliant repartee tomorrow
morning on the Morning show.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
Yeah, the whole morning.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Yeah, Laura is going to co host tomorrow. Yeah, done
it before and I've really enjoyed it, and I can't wait, Laura,
I can't wait.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
All right, we'll see you tomorrow, say you tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Apparently Dolly Parton is confused. She's not even sure if
she is a country artist. We'll explain when we come
right back. And we want to send you to Mariah
Carey's Christmas Time tour at A twenty five. You hear
the name Dolly Parton, what do you think of what
type of music?
Speaker 4 (11:04):
Country music?
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Absolutely? Absolutely, she's a country star. She's absolutely a country star.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
The biggest one there. Where's Dahlly World in Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
See see that's the heart of country music right outside
of Nashville, is it or I'm not sure?
Speaker 4 (11:21):
No, no, no, it's not in Nashville, but it's near
Asheville where the floods were actually.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
She was also just named the number one country artist
of all time, so I think, you know, even even
the Variety and Billboard and everybody agrees with us that
she is a huge country star. However, she was doing
an interview the other day and on the CBS Morning Show,
(11:49):
and she said, I do so many things sometimes I
wonder if I'm still considered a country artist. Although I'm
a country girl. I've had the chance to do things
like my rock album movies, so I wasn't really sure anymore.
Now what do you think that was all about?
Speaker 4 (12:08):
Promoting her?
Speaker 1 (12:12):
She's she's brilliant. You know. The funny thing is that
we were just talking about this with Dolly Parton. But
I'm gonna play a couple of her songs because you're
you're probably thinking, how can you talk about Dolly Parton
without playing her music? And I will in a second.
But the thing about her is that you look at
the character of her, you know what I mean, And
she's so exuberant and she's funny, and she's got that
(12:34):
huge hair, and she's got that big chest that she
kids about.
Speaker 7 (12:38):
And costume oh absolutely, yes, yes, yes, yes, amazing.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
There's the character of Dolly Parton you forget. She's an
incredible songwriter. She has won she has written some of
the greatest songs of all time. I will Always Love
you that Whitney Houston made a hit out of. I
mean it goes on and on and on, and she
has she has dabbled in every type of music. She
(13:07):
was pop nine to five and and she did rock
and we'll play that in the second. But I think
everybody has to agree this is what she's known for.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Jolene. I love that name. And she wrote a song.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Did the real Joe Line get residuals?
Speaker 4 (13:23):
No, that never happens. But it's cool to have a
song named after you. Yeah that.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Although probably nobody believes her. I'm sure she has got
a song on the radio right now that's about me.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
Well, it's not about her, but the name inspired the song.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Well that's fine. I mean, whatever happened to take credit? Yeah, yeah,
she still gets credit now. She also dabbled in rock music.
She had a whole rock album out and that was
after she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame of you know what the hell who what's
put everybody in.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
Which she had said first she wasn't going to accept.
She's like, I'm not a rock musician, I know. But
then there was so much pressure, like Dolly, you have to.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
But then she saw another marketing opportunity and she decided.
Because she's Dolly Parton and again one of the greatest
songwriters of all time, she wrote a rock album and
she performed this when she was inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
Listening to and I'm thinking, you know what, she could
be a rock star. Like that voice, a little raspy there.
It's got, you know, all that passion in it. It's
funny to do a rock song for sure.
Speaker 8 (14:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Absolutely, it's funny because I saw it live. I mean,
you didn't see anything live, you know what I mean.
It was that week and then they had a special
on on the weekend, and so I saw it the
first time it played, and I didn't realize how good
the song was because you're caught up in the fact
that Dolly Parton's doing a rock s right, and you're
just watching that and kind of laughing about it.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
Was she like an all black leather like a rock star.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
She was, she was, she was. So anyway, let's give
away some tickets. Now, let's get the news with Jacqueline Carl.
Good morning, Jacqueline, Good morning.
Speaker 8 (15:04):
Mitt Romney is saying goodbye to the US Senate as
his six year term comes to an end. Romney gave
a farewell address on the Senate floor yesterday where he
reflected on his term and highlighted his success passing several
bipartisan initiatives and New York's Eve celebrations in New York
City parks will be different this year because of an
ongoing drought. Wr's own Kristen Marx has more the annual
(15:29):
fireworks shows in Central Park and Prospect Park are canceled
over concerns they could ignite more brush fires, like the
one that scorched two wakers in Prospect Park last month.
Mayor Adams has suspended the issuing of permits for fireworks
displays throughout the five boroughs. The New York road Runners,
the nonprofit that shoots off fireworks during its four mile
midnight run in Central Park on December thirty, first, says
(15:51):
they're mulling other options. In Prospect Park, the fireworks will
be replaced with a light show involving drones.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
All right, it's time for lines, real or fake. I
always like this.
Speaker 8 (16:03):
I always like to see if you guys will get them,
because I have to say they're good. Shopper claims to
find frog in jar of blastic pickles. True it's real. Yes,
I imagine that because they it could blend right in town.
Installs singing Christmas tree that performs twenty four to seven
(16:23):
and it's already annoying neighbors.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
False.
Speaker 8 (16:27):
Wow, you're good, because I would have done the said
the opposite for both of them. Scientists discover talking mushrooms
in the rainforest, sparking debate over plant intelligence.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
False. Yeah, it's fake.
Speaker 8 (16:39):
Former Amish former Amish woman became a stripper.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
True yes, oh.
Speaker 8 (16:46):
My god, Larry one more and you'll have a perfect score.
Man rescued after three days in a well as villagers
mistake his cries for ghostly sounds.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
True. Yes, God, I wish there was a game show
like this that I could get on. Who comes up
with the false stuff? Is that you? No?
Speaker 4 (17:08):
I wish I could claim it.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Yeah, it's pretty good given.
Speaker 8 (17:10):
The real stuff. That frog at a jar oflastic pickles.
I'll never look at them the same again. I'll have
to really study it before I reach in.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Well five and oh, let's stop. Let's stop it all now,
let's stop the contest. Now it's done, all right. Thanks.
The CEO of United Healthcare is assassinated in New York City.
We'll get the latest on the investigation from WR correspondent
Roory O'Neil. That's coming up next. But we want to
congratulate Michelle Reisler from Asbury Park, New Jersey. They just
(17:41):
won a pair of tickets to see Mariah Carey's Christmas
Time Tour, a night of Mariah's biggest hits and holiday favorites,
December fifteenth at Ubs Arena. Tickets on sale now at
ticketmaster dot com. You have another chance to win tomorrow
morning at age twenty five. The latest on the assassination
(18:01):
investigation next, Welcome back. I'm Larry MENTI. It is absolutely
a story, a murder that is captivating the city, is
captivating the nation. And it happened right across the street
from where we are right now, and it happened while
we were on the air yesterday. United Healthcare CEO Brian
(18:25):
Thompson shot to death in what police are calling a
targeted shooting. A man with a mask on killed him
six twenty five in the morning, with a lot of
people around, a lot of witnesses, and then took off
into Central Park on an e bike and hasn't that
(18:49):
we know of, hasn't been seen since. So let's get
the latest on the investigation and find out what is
happening now as we speak. Rory O'Neill is wor National correspondent.
He's been covering this. Rory, do we know? Do we
know anything about the investigation at this point? Well.
Speaker 6 (19:10):
One of the new twists happened overnight. ABC News was
first to report that the shellcasings were covered from the scene.
Some had writing on them, including the words deny, defend,
and depose that may suggest that these are related to
some of the actions taken by United Healthcare in denying
(19:30):
a person's claim. The widow of Brian Thompson has confirmed
that they were the threat of the target of some threats.
She did not know the nature of the threats, whether
or not it was from an angry employee, someone who
had been denied healthcare coverage, or what the nature of
those threats were, but she did confirm that she was
aware that they had happened, but at the time of
(19:51):
the shooting, Thompson seemed to be walking through Midtown all
on his own without any kind of security.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Yeah, and they a lot of people I saw him.
They said he was almost there overnight. To the guy
that the what I'm talking about is the shooter at
this point, and that they he seemed to know it
was well advertised. But he seemed to know that Brian
Thompson was not staying at the Hilton because right, why
would he be waiting out front for him to show up, right.
Speaker 6 (20:21):
So he knew he was staying at a different hotel.
He was aware that the investor conference was happening at
that Hilton, at least that's what we believe the Obviously
they canceled the event for the day, but this would
have been a big deal, a big day for Thompson.
Fifty year old CEO of the largest health provider, a
health insurance company in the country, flew in from Minnesota
(20:41):
to have this meeting with the investors, you know, tried
to explain to them and these are the hedge fund
manager kind of guys, right, who are Wall Street insiders
who are buying up this stock? So it would have
been his job, Thompson's job to say, hey, twenty twenty
five is going to be a great year for us.
So you can imagine the pressure what was going through
his mind thinking about the meeting ahead when suddenly this
(21:04):
gunman steps out and shoots shoots them in the back.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Right and then seemingly just disappears. I mean, they know
he jumped on an e bike, they know he went
to Central Park, and not much has been released since then,
so maybe they do know where he is, maybe they're waiting,
but it does seem like he had this really well
planned out and that he just disappeared in Central Park.
Speaker 6 (21:28):
You know, some of the best surveillance footage we actually
have is from the Starbucks Apparently he was buying He
made a stop at Starbucks before about an hour before.
If he paid with a credit card debit card, they
can trace that instantly. We've gotten reports that a cell
phone was also recovered from the scene, as well as
a bottle of water and maybe a power bar or
something that was also bought at that Starbucks purchase. So
(21:51):
there could be a lot of physical evidence and digital
evidence digital fingerprints in addition to actual fingerprints that could
lead them to this suspect. And I suspect that with
the surveillance footage and that Starbucks information, they may have
an idea as to who this is. It's just a
struggle now trying to find him.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Yeah, I'd love to see that surveillance tape from inside
the Starbucks and whether he left that mask on the
whole time, because that might be the only image they're
going to have from him. But I can't imagine that
he planned this out so well. It seems I can't
believe that he would leave behind a cell phone. We
don't do we know at this point whether it's his.
(22:30):
We don't.
Speaker 6 (22:31):
We haven't gotten a whole lot of information about that.
But for a person, it's a lot of these conflicting signals.
Right here is a gunman who has a silencer on
his weapon, which is unusual. Apparently the gun looked like
it jammed and he was able to get it functioning
once again, and he seemed pretty calm and cool on
the video carrying out this shooting. But at the same time,
(22:52):
you leave behind a bottle of water and a candy
wrapper and a cell phone, and then you're on an
e bike and maybe all that stuff can be traced.
It looks like a professional hit job. But then that
those kind of actions, clearly that's the work of an amateur.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
It's fascinating that you and this has brought and brought
up many many times about a professional hit job, which
would mean that the person that wanted this man dead
would have the resources to be able to hire a professional.
Speaker 6 (23:23):
Right, all these different factors, and then we got the
news of these messages left on the shell casings. I mean,
clearly the person, the assassin, let's call him what he is,
the assassin, had an agenda in this case.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
Right, and so, and it's interesting because you know, I'm
going to keep asking questions, but it sounds like after
that scene, after all the things we saw in that scene,
and after the evidence that was left behind, which may
or may not lead anywhere, after he disappeared in Central Park,
as far as we all know, he just disappeared.
Speaker 6 (23:59):
Right, And he had that distinctive backpack that he was wearing.
I think some people online have identified it as a
peak backpack. You know, the covering of his face, as
you said, wearing a jacket with a hood and a
face covering in yesterday's cold weather, wasn't particularly unusual. Wearing
dark gray and black also certainly not unusual. So they're
hoping that people recognize him from his build, recognize that backpack,
(24:23):
and they put two and two together to help investigators
identify him and again then try to find where this
person is.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
You may know more about this than I do, because
there was a rather large opening in that mask, in
that ski mask. All the same, for the lack of
a better term, can you do digital facial identification from
what we see?
Speaker 6 (24:45):
It's well, I think that would depend on how much
Now we have seen images, especially that Starbucks video, you
get his eyes and his full exposed nose. Others have
the mask up covering his nose, So some footage is
better than others.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
It's a lot.
Speaker 6 (25:00):
I don't know there's enough though to reconstruct an entire
face digitally, but I think you know, but again, you
can recognize people from the size of their bill, their
shoulder with you know, whether or not they're fat, skinny, tall, short.
I think a lot of people might be able to
recognize that person without seeing every detail of it, of
his face, you know.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
It certainly one of those stories where everybody has speculation
about and I think that you alluded to this a
moment ago, but right after it happened, not just myself,
but a couple of other people here said almost immediately,
it is going to be somebody disgruntled because they something
wasn't paid and possibly somebody and their family died and
(25:38):
they felt like they didn't get the healthcare that that
person deserves because they didn't get the insurance money to
take care of that person. I mean, for someone to
go to this length to kill this man and then
walk away, you would at least have to start at
the fact that something traumatic happened to him, or something
(26:00):
awful happened to him, and he blames this man, right.
Speaker 6 (26:04):
And we also don't know if this man was already
on police radar from the earlier threats the family had received.
It's possible that as those were being investigated, likely in
Minnesota where he had lived, whether or not, they had
already built possibly a list of suspects who were making
these threats, and then it may make it easier to
narrow down as part of their investigation who was responsible yesterday.
(26:29):
But to find shell Casings with the words deny, defend,
depose again, that suggests that this is related to the
claims that may have been denied by United Health Group.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Yeah, that seemed to make it personal. You're right, those
words made it personal. Rory O'Neil. I know we're early
on in investigation, but I really appreciate your expertise on this. Thanks, Larry.
Speaker 6 (26:54):
We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
I'll talk to you. Rory O'Neill, Wor National Correspondent. It's
really difficult for people that are covering this case right
now because the police obviously know a lot more than
they're going to let out right now, and they may
know who the guy is. We don't know. You're never
going to know. So even though it sounds like they
(27:17):
don't have that person, I've covered so many not a
case like this exactly, but I've covered so many murder
cases where very early on they know who it is.
Speaker 4 (27:28):
It's twenty four hours later. I can't believe we haven't
you know, we don't know where he is. Well, maybe
they do know where he is, but they haven't gone
to him yet.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
You know what I'm saying is they don't know who
it is. That you believe they don't know who it is,
but they know who he is, and they just have
to try to track him down at this point, and
so my feeling is that is probably going to be
the case. I would be shocked if in the next
week he's not arrested somewhere. Why does Major League Baseball
(27:59):
keep messing with the rules. The latest proposal is well
bonkers will tell you all about it next. Welcome back.
I'm Larry Mante. You've been great with your talkbacks. Thank
you so much for doing that, because we always love
to hear from you. You go to the iHeart app,
go to seven to ten WR and just hit the
(28:21):
microphone and record, and then we play it on the air.
Like this person who wanted to call in and talk
about landlines.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
Here's a shocker. Most people don't know that their landline
is attached to their internet. Guess what if your internet
goes down, you have no landline?
Speaker 1 (28:38):
Is that right?
Speaker 9 (28:38):
No?
Speaker 4 (28:39):
No, no, no, See she's getting confused. A lot of
people think when you have a phone in your house
that looks like it's plugged into something, it's really plugged
into your router. It's not an old landline. So cable
companies will provide phone numbers for you, and people think
(28:59):
of them landlines because you're using those old, you know,
cordless phones. No, that's not not a landline.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
You're certain about this.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
Absolutely landlines or the reason why they're actually ending landlines
is because the whole infrastructure is so old it's just
too expensive to repair. There's copper lines and it's just
not worth them fixing them anymore.
Speaker 7 (29:21):
But that is through your cable system. Okay, different, different, different.
I don't know the answer to that, so I'm gonna
have to take your word for it. You seem extremely confident,
like you worked at at and T.
Speaker 6 (29:34):
HI.
Speaker 10 (29:34):
This is Clodia from White Planes, And I love my
landline because we have terrible cell service in my neighborhood
and to talk to anybody on my cell phone, I
have to go outside and stand in the middle of
the street. So the landline is a lifesaver, especially for
doctors or important messages that are coming in. So don't
(29:56):
lose the landlines.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
I agree with you an important wa you know, hey mom,
the crazy ladies back in the middle of the street
again talking on the phone.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
That's terrible though, that she has such poor cell service
in her area. Where does she live?
Speaker 1 (30:12):
Well, actually, I have bad cell service in my area.
I'm going to get my landline back before they go away.
One last one. This is about the baby carrots that
I was stunned to find out are just real carrots
that are shaved down to look like a baby carrot.
Speaker 9 (30:31):
Good morning, Larry about your story with the baby carrots.
Have ever seen big carrots in a bunch with stems
and leaves? How many times they've seen little baby carrots
in a bunch with little baby stems and little baby leaves?
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (30:46):
I think so.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Wait a second, I thought they were like human babies.
You grow all that other stuff later on. Oh my,
you shn't have a mustache for a baby carrot. They're
going to be pure and bald and not a lot
of hair.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
Every day, we're gonna we're gonna come up with something
that's gonna shock Larry. Carrots.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
It's not funny, So I'd say, we're gonna talk. It's
not funny, it's it's really it's really upsetting to me.
Can you give me a moment?
Speaker 4 (31:17):
I will, Well, what's really not funny is the story
that you're gonna tell me right now.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
This is unbelievable. Major League Baseball is talking about you know,
they're coming up with all these new rules. Half of
them are great because they speed up the game. Half
of them are insane. And when I say insane, I
mean it in the pure sense of the word, absolutely insane.
So the latest one they're talking about is the golden
(31:43):
bat rule, and that is so it's after the seventh inning.
The team that's behind is allowed now to allow if
the game's on the line, like they have the bases
loaded and their worst hitter is up, they can repl
place that hitter with their best hitter.
Speaker 4 (32:03):
Poor, poor bad hitter. Right, it's just get booted.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
I was just saying that this is insane because that's
what makes the game funny.
Speaker 4 (32:11):
Un Stand the.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Nature of the game. We Bucky Dent wouldn't be a
household word if they held the golden bat. You know.
Speaker 4 (32:20):
So they're doing this not to speed up the game.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Well they're not doing it yet.
Speaker 4 (32:24):
Right, No, No, No, they're not doing it. Proposed is to
make it more exciting.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Because yes, because they want people to go, you know,
yell out golden bat. Wouldn't it be cool if you
actually had to bring out a golden bat?
Speaker 2 (32:37):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (32:37):
Yeah, I bet that that would be fun. They really
need to paint a gold kind of like.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Thoseated gold real gold, so that it's tougher to swing.
And then you have to get to see Juan Soto
going out trying to swing a golden bat. Now that
i'd be.
Speaker 4 (32:52):
For baseball purists out there must be going crazy on this.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
No, it's ridiculous. And and look, half of me thinks
that the commissioner was just trolling us because this is
such a ridiculous idea, and he said it. I guess
he let it slip out on a podcast. So my
feeling is that this can't be real. Kenneth, it is
so absurd. Of all the absurd ideas they've come up with,
(33:21):
and they've come up with some pretty bad ones, this
would be the most absurd. We shocking numbers out this
week there are fifty eight thousand migrant criminals. I went,
we uh, because I missed Natalie mcgleiorre if. I know
she has a vacation day and I was gonna talk
about her. Shocking numbers out this week that there are
(33:45):
fifty eight thousand migrant criminals on the streets of New York.
We'll talk with the man who released that information, Kenneth Janalo,
the ICE director in New York that's coming up after
the nine o'clock news
And good morning. I'm Larry Mente in the Big Three,
the CEO of the nation's largest healthcare insurance company, United Healthcare,
is gunned down on the streets of New York City.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
You know this is not a random attack, I can
tell you this is more of like an assassination attempt.
There was a pre planned motive definitely here. I don't
know who the individual was. Was this that hitman? Was
this someone who was disgruntled, but there is no coincidence here.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
The manhunt is on for the assassin who fled the
scene on a city bike and disappeared into Central Park.
No verdict in the Daniel Penny trial yet, as the
jury asks for evidence and testimony to review.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Criminally negligent homicide is actually what's called a lesser including
offense of manslaughter. So basically it has a lower mensral,
a lower intent, so instead of recklessness, it's criminal negligence.
So it's one or the other, manslaughter being the higher
level charge.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
It's one of those two. Jury deliberation continue today, or
it's a hung jewelry or an outright acquittal, which I
think most of us are hoping for. And Donald Trump's
nominee for Secretary of Defense, veteran and Fox News host
Pete Hegseth is not giving up the fight despite accusations
(01:20):
of sexual misconduct, heavy drinking, and financial mismanagement. He says
it's all a smear job and Donald Trump wants him
to keep on fighting. He said, I want a warfighter.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
I want lethality, lethality, lethality.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
I want readiness, accountability, standards, warfighting. Pete, that's you. That's me, cleanhouse,
and I gotta add one more, have to, because how
can I leave it out. The Christmas Tree at Rockefeller
Center is officially lit. The Rockefeller sent your Christmas Tree
(02:07):
now shining bright on view for everyone to see from
all across the country through mid January. The tree will
be lit daily from five am to midnight, and on
Christmas Eve it'll be lit for twenty four hours, and
then again on New Year's Eve from five am to
nine pm. It is a wonderful time of year in
(02:28):
the city. And with that, let's get right to Laura
curR and political commentator and former NASA County executive. Laura,
did you ever go down to see the Christmas Tree?
Speaker 5 (02:38):
I hate to say, it's one of those things I've
never done and have no desire to do.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
WHOA, wow, I know.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
I just wanted to play that again for you because
that's what you missed.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
My god, there's shivers went up my spine.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
It's like in the freezing cold with a bunch of
people looking at something that happens every year. It's kind
of like New Year's even times square. It's just not
my jam and God bless it if it's yours, you know,
go at it.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
Have a ball in your way.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
When you were a kid, did you want to go
see it?
Speaker 4 (03:15):
No, but you've seen the tree.
Speaker 5 (03:18):
You just haven't seen me walk by it, you know,
sort of yeah, like, but I haven't made a point
of going to see the tree.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
Wow, you are ruining Christmas as this.
Speaker 5 (03:31):
But it's like it happens every year. It's completely predictable.
It's always the same, Like, why would I take time
out of my life to go do that.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
I thought Larry was the scrooge in the studio right now,
but I think it might be Laura a little shop.
I'm slowly revealing my true nature.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
It's the same every year, she says.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
I mean seriously, like, how predictable is this?
Speaker 5 (03:58):
And going to my show going to a movie something
you've never seen before that I get.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Do you want a surprise ending? No?
Speaker 4 (04:08):
I don't even care. Wow, Wow, what could be surprising?
Speaker 1 (04:12):
What a downery you've started? You know what?
Speaker 5 (04:16):
I bet there's a bunch of people out there in
radio land listening saying you know what?
Speaker 4 (04:21):
I agree?
Speaker 5 (04:21):
Yeah, leave us a talk back.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
Go to this iHeartRadio app, Go to seven ten war,
click on the red microphone and let us know if
you feel how Laura feels about Christmas.
Speaker 5 (04:32):
Yeah, I'm not, you know, I'm not like anti Christmas
in any way. I love I always overdo the presence,
you know, like I'm really into it.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
I'm just Oh, so you like the commercial aspect of Christmas?
Speaker 4 (04:46):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
I wanted to talk to you if I could for
a second about sanctuary cities and yeah, and the fact
that the Trump administration, especially in the beginning, just wants
to come in and get all the criminals out, and
they're putting it seems like they're putting the mayor in
this uncomfortable situation because he agrees with that, but he
has to be careful of what he says and who's
(05:14):
tozy steps on. I'm assuming this you were the politician.
I'm just assuming that's what happened. What's happening because he
always seems to start to come out for it and
say it's a good thing, and then gets a little
bit reserved. Do you think he's in a tough place
on this.
Speaker 5 (05:29):
I think he actually is in a place of strength
if he just comes out and says, look, you know,
we are responsible. This is what I did when I
was county executing, when I was campaigning for the job
in the first place. The number one job of local
government especially is public safety, and we have to be
able to allow our police officers to cooperate with federal
agencies responsibly. I'm not saying, you know, just go there
(05:52):
and go crazy, but in a responsible way to get
criminals off the streets. And if that means working with
the FBI and working with ICE or whoever it may be,
then I think you've got to allow local municipalities to
do that. I think it's a common sense approach. I
think most people would agree with it. There are a
few people who won't like it. The other the other
(06:13):
aspect of this is, you know, you also have to
work at building trust between police and the communities. Especially
the immigrant communities, because the last thing you want is
people who are victims of crimes or witnesses to be
afraid to come forward and and talk about what's happening.
And so you you, you know, it's like you've got
to work it from many angles. You've got to build
(06:33):
the trust you've got, and you've got to be able
to reassure people who have not committed crimes that nothing's
going to happen to them. Kind Of it's a challenge,
but it's certainly possible to do. And I think that's
something we did in Nessa County when I was county
exec Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
And the reason I said, he always he says something.
It's usually after a crime, if somebody's murdered or somebody
gets assaulted. He will say something about the fact that
they have to change the laws and then these soft
on crime policies and the sanctuary city status. He'll say that.
But he has the power of mayor. I would think
to do a little bit more than that. Why why
(07:12):
is any going up to Albany the UH about the
bail reform and why does any go to city council
and and and give a big speech in front of
city council try to force their hands. He never seems
to want to take the next step.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
You know, I agree, I see the same thing. It's
like he puts his toe in the water. He sort
of says things that make you think, Okay, here we go,
and then it never quite he never quite goes there.
And I guess maybe it's fear.
Speaker 6 (07:39):
I don't know what is.
Speaker 5 (07:39):
But at this point, I mean, he you I think
he is rightly called an embattled mayor. He's got all
these investigations going. It's he's you know, all a lot
of his top people are gone for various, you know,
various reasons, some of whom have been investigated.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
At this point, why not.
Speaker 5 (07:53):
Just be yourself and you know, and just say, yes,
this is something that is not working.
Speaker 4 (07:59):
It is not keeping New York safe.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
That is my number one job is public safety, honestly
the number one job. And I've got to be able
to advocate for that in Albany and in Washington. And
it's like he goes up to the line, but something
keeps him back.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
And I'm not sure why that is.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
It's got to be politics, right, And you're right, I mean, is.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
A man even going to be able to run for mayor.
Speaker 5 (08:21):
Like, at this point, who cares?
Speaker 4 (08:23):
So what you're already in battled.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Oh I got a feeling he's hoping for a pardon
from President Trump.
Speaker 5 (08:30):
Yeah, well yeah, I do like romance, Bruins, there's a bromance.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Well, I think that romance is on purpose. I think
that he's probably sending him love notes as as we speak.
Speaker 5 (08:41):
And it benefits both of them. You know, Trump can say, hey, look,
even the Democratic mayor of New York City lifts me.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Oh and absolutely, and then all of a sudden he
could send in you know, Tom Homan, then triple the
ice agents they say they're going to do, and they'll
have the mayor on his side. Oh you know what,
I think we just figured this out. That's all that's
all going to play out, because.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
It being with this whole The thing that concerns me
about this whole mass deportation thing is the effect that
it will have on the economy. So will they just
go after the criminals or will they actually go after
just undocumented workers? Writ large, What will happen to the
housing building industry, What will happen to the farming industry,
What will happen to grocery prices, housing prices is the economy.
I got to think he's got to try very very
(09:22):
carefully with these promises that he made, you know, because
it could it could end up biting him right in
the butt and really hurting Republicans.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Yeah, we've had Tom Homan on the air here and
would love to have him back. And after hearing him talk,
I will tell you, Laura that I don't think they're
ever going to get the mess deportation because if he
goes the way he wants to go, and he keeps saying,
it's going to be those that either have deportation orders,
(09:49):
which would be the second step, but first are those
that have committed crimes. And then it's going to be
to try to find the three hundred thousand children that
are missing. That's how home' is that gonna take exactly.
Speaker 5 (10:02):
And then they can have a few big headlines and
we sent back these really bad guys, you know, and
then and then they can say, you know, the mission accomplished,
and then they don't have to worry about the other
stuff we'll see. I mean, but then, will the MAGA people,
the voters be disappointed, I don't know. Will they think wait,
wait a minute, you promised mass deportation.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
What did you do? You didn't do that right exactly. Hey,
you're gonna I didn't get any of the topics. But
you'll be here.
Speaker 5 (10:24):
Tomorrow and we have so much time to talk about everything.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Absolutely, you can hear more of this brilliant repartee tomorrow
morning on the Morning show.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
Yeah, the whole morning.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Yeah, Laura is going to co host tomorrow. Yeah, done
it before and I've really enjoyed it, and I can't wait, Laura,
I can't wait.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
All right, we'll see you tomorrow, say you tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Apparently Dolly Parton is confused. She's not even sure if
she is a country artist. We'll explain when we come
right back. And we want to send you to Mariah
Carey's Christmas Time tour at A twenty five. You hear
the name Dolly Parton, what do you think of what
type of music?
Speaker 4 (11:04):
Country music?
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Absolutely? Absolutely, she's a country star. She's absolutely a country star.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
The biggest one there. Where's Dahlly World in Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
See see that's the heart of country music right outside
of Nashville, is it or I'm not sure?
Speaker 4 (11:21):
No, no, no, it's not in Nashville, but it's near
Asheville where the floods were actually.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
She was also just named the number one country artist
of all time, so I think, you know, even even
the Variety and Billboard and everybody agrees with us that
she is a huge country star. However, she was doing
an interview the other day and on the CBS Morning Show,
(11:49):
and she said, I do so many things sometimes I
wonder if I'm still considered a country artist. Although I'm
a country girl. I've had the chance to do things
like my rock album movies, so I wasn't really sure anymore.
Now what do you think that was all about?
Speaker 4 (12:08):
Promoting her?
Speaker 1 (12:12):
She's she's brilliant. You know. The funny thing is that
we were just talking about this with Dolly Parton. But
I'm gonna play a couple of her songs because you're
you're probably thinking, how can you talk about Dolly Parton
without playing her music? And I will in a second.
But the thing about her is that you look at
the character of her, you know what I mean, And
she's so exuberant and she's funny, and she's got that
(12:34):
huge hair, and she's got that big chest that she
kids about.
Speaker 7 (12:38):
And costume oh absolutely, yes, yes, yes, yes, amazing.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
There's the character of Dolly Parton you forget. She's an
incredible songwriter. She has won she has written some of
the greatest songs of all time. I will Always Love
you that Whitney Houston made a hit out of. I
mean it goes on and on and on, and she
has she has dabbled in every type of music. She
(13:07):
was pop nine to five and and she did rock
and we'll play that in the second. But I think
everybody has to agree this is what she's known for.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Jolene. I love that name. And she wrote a song.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Did the real Joe Line get residuals?
Speaker 4 (13:23):
No, that never happens. But it's cool to have a
song named after you. Yeah that.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Although probably nobody believes her. I'm sure she has got
a song on the radio right now that's about me.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
Well, it's not about her, but the name inspired the song.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Well that's fine. I mean, whatever happened to take credit? Yeah, yeah,
she still gets credit now. She also dabbled in rock music.
She had a whole rock album out and that was
after she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame of you know what the hell who what's
put everybody in.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
Which she had said first she wasn't going to accept.
She's like, I'm not a rock musician, I know. But
then there was so much pressure, like Dolly, you have to.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
But then she saw another marketing opportunity and she decided.
Because she's Dolly Parton and again one of the greatest
songwriters of all time, she wrote a rock album and
she performed this when she was inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
Listening to and I'm thinking, you know what, she could
be a rock star. Like that voice, a little raspy there.
It's got, you know, all that passion in it. It's
funny to do a rock song for sure.
Speaker 8 (14:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Absolutely, it's funny because I saw it live. I mean,
you didn't see anything live, you know what I mean.
It was that week and then they had a special
on on the weekend, and so I saw it the
first time it played, and I didn't realize how good
the song was because you're caught up in the fact
that Dolly Parton's doing a rock s right, and you're
just watching that and kind of laughing about it.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
Was she like an all black leather like a rock star.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
She was, she was, she was. So anyway, let's give
away some tickets. Now, let's get the news with Jacqueline Carl.
Good morning, Jacqueline, Good morning.
Speaker 8 (15:04):
Mitt Romney is saying goodbye to the US Senate as
his six year term comes to an end. Romney gave
a farewell address on the Senate floor yesterday where he
reflected on his term and highlighted his success passing several
bipartisan initiatives and New York's Eve celebrations in New York
City parks will be different this year because of an
ongoing drought. Wr's own Kristen Marx has more the annual
(15:29):
fireworks shows in Central Park and Prospect Park are canceled
over concerns they could ignite more brush fires, like the
one that scorched two wakers in Prospect Park last month.
Mayor Adams has suspended the issuing of permits for fireworks
displays throughout the five boroughs. The New York road Runners,
the nonprofit that shoots off fireworks during its four mile
midnight run in Central Park on December thirty, first, says
(15:51):
they're mulling other options. In Prospect Park, the fireworks will
be replaced with a light show involving drones.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
All right, it's time for lines, real or fake. I
always like this.
Speaker 8 (16:03):
I always like to see if you guys will get them,
because I have to say they're good. Shopper claims to
find frog in jar of blastic pickles. True it's real. Yes,
I imagine that because they it could blend right in town.
Installs singing Christmas tree that performs twenty four to seven
(16:23):
and it's already annoying neighbors.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
False.
Speaker 8 (16:27):
Wow, you're good, because I would have done the said
the opposite for both of them. Scientists discover talking mushrooms
in the rainforest, sparking debate over plant intelligence.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
False. Yeah, it's fake.
Speaker 8 (16:39):
Former Amish former Amish woman became a stripper.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
True yes, oh.
Speaker 8 (16:46):
My god, Larry one more and you'll have a perfect score.
Man rescued after three days in a well as villagers
mistake his cries for ghostly sounds.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
True. Yes, God, I wish there was a game show
like this that I could get on. Who comes up
with the false stuff? Is that you? No?
Speaker 4 (17:08):
I wish I could claim it.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Yeah, it's pretty good given.
Speaker 8 (17:10):
The real stuff. That frog at a jar oflastic pickles.
I'll never look at them the same again. I'll have
to really study it before I reach in.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
Well five and oh, let's stop. Let's stop it all now,
let's stop the contest. Now it's done, all right. Thanks.
The CEO of United Healthcare is assassinated in New York City.
We'll get the latest on the investigation from WR correspondent
Roory O'Neil. That's coming up next. But we want to
congratulate Michelle Reisler from Asbury Park, New Jersey. They just
(17:41):
won a pair of tickets to see Mariah Carey's Christmas
Time Tour, a night of Mariah's biggest hits and holiday favorites,
December fifteenth at Ubs Arena. Tickets on sale now at
ticketmaster dot com. You have another chance to win tomorrow
morning at age twenty five. The latest on the assassination
(18:01):
investigation next, Welcome back. I'm Larry MENTI. It is absolutely
a story, a murder that is captivating the city, is
captivating the nation. And it happened right across the street
from where we are right now, and it happened while
we were on the air yesterday. United Healthcare CEO Brian
(18:25):
Thompson shot to death in what police are calling a
targeted shooting. A man with a mask on killed him
six twenty five in the morning, with a lot of
people around, a lot of witnesses, and then took off
into Central Park on an e bike and hasn't that
(18:49):
we know of, hasn't been seen since. So let's get
the latest on the investigation and find out what is
happening now as we speak. Rory O'Neill is wor National correspondent.
He's been covering this. Rory, do we know? Do we
know anything about the investigation at this point? Well.
Speaker 6 (19:10):
One of the new twists happened overnight. ABC News was
first to report that the shellcasings were covered from the scene.
Some had writing on them, including the words deny, defend,
and depose that may suggest that these are related to
some of the actions taken by United Healthcare in denying
(19:30):
a person's claim. The widow of Brian Thompson has confirmed
that they were the threat of the target of some threats.
She did not know the nature of the threats, whether
or not it was from an angry employee, someone who
had been denied healthcare coverage, or what the nature of
those threats were, but she did confirm that she was
aware that they had happened, but at the time of
(19:51):
the shooting, Thompson seemed to be walking through Midtown all
on his own without any kind of security.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Yeah, and they a lot of people I saw him.
They said he was almost there overnight. To the guy
that the what I'm talking about is the shooter at
this point, and that they he seemed to know it
was well advertised. But he seemed to know that Brian
Thompson was not staying at the Hilton because right, why
would he be waiting out front for him to show up, right.
Speaker 6 (20:21):
So he knew he was staying at a different hotel.
He was aware that the investor conference was happening at
that Hilton, at least that's what we believe the Obviously
they canceled the event for the day, but this would
have been a big deal, a big day for Thompson.
Fifty year old CEO of the largest health provider, a
health insurance company in the country, flew in from Minnesota
(20:41):
to have this meeting with the investors, you know, tried
to explain to them and these are the hedge fund
manager kind of guys, right, who are Wall Street insiders
who are buying up this stock? So it would have
been his job, Thompson's job to say, hey, twenty twenty
five is going to be a great year for us.
So you can imagine the pressure what was going through
his mind thinking about the meeting ahead when suddenly this
(21:04):
gunman steps out and shoots shoots them in the back.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Right and then seemingly just disappears. I mean, they know
he jumped on an e bike, they know he went
to Central Park, and not much has been released since then,
so maybe they do know where he is, maybe they're waiting,
but it does seem like he had this really well
planned out and that he just disappeared in Central Park.
Speaker 6 (21:28):
You know, some of the best surveillance footage we actually
have is from the Starbucks Apparently he was buying He
made a stop at Starbucks before about an hour before.
If he paid with a credit card debit card, they
can trace that instantly. We've gotten reports that a cell
phone was also recovered from the scene, as well as
a bottle of water and maybe a power bar or
something that was also bought at that Starbucks purchase. So
(21:51):
there could be a lot of physical evidence and digital
evidence digital fingerprints in addition to actual fingerprints that could
lead them to this suspect. And I suspect that with
the surveillance footage and that Starbucks information, they may have
an idea as to who this is. It's just a
struggle now trying to find him.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Yeah, I'd love to see that surveillance tape from inside
the Starbucks and whether he left that mask on the
whole time, because that might be the only image they're
going to have from him. But I can't imagine that
he planned this out so well. It seems I can't
believe that he would leave behind a cell phone. We
don't do we know at this point whether it's his.
(22:30):
We don't.
Speaker 6 (22:31):
We haven't gotten a whole lot of information about that.
But for a person, it's a lot of these conflicting signals.
Right here is a gunman who has a silencer on
his weapon, which is unusual. Apparently the gun looked like
it jammed and he was able to get it functioning
once again, and he seemed pretty calm and cool on
the video carrying out this shooting. But at the same time,
(22:52):
you leave behind a bottle of water and a candy
wrapper and a cell phone, and then you're on an
e bike and maybe all that stuff can be traced.
It looks like a professional hit job. But then that
those kind of actions, clearly that's the work of an amateur.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
It's fascinating that you and this has brought and brought
up many many times about a professional hit job, which
would mean that the person that wanted this man dead
would have the resources to be able to hire a professional.
Speaker 6 (23:23):
Right, all these different factors, and then we got the
news of these messages left on the shell casings. I mean,
clearly the person, the assassin, let's call him what he is,
the assassin, had an agenda in this case.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
Right, and so, and it's interesting because you know, I'm
going to keep asking questions, but it sounds like after
that scene, after all the things we saw in that scene,
and after the evidence that was left behind, which may
or may not lead anywhere, after he disappeared in Central Park,
as far as we all know, he just disappeared.
Speaker 6 (23:59):
Right, And he had that distinctive backpack that he was wearing.
I think some people online have identified it as a
peak backpack. You know, the covering of his face, as
you said, wearing a jacket with a hood and a
face covering in yesterday's cold weather, wasn't particularly unusual. Wearing
dark gray and black also certainly not unusual. So they're
hoping that people recognize him from his build, recognize that backpack,
(24:23):
and they put two and two together to help investigators
identify him and again then try to find where this
person is.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
You may know more about this than I do, because
there was a rather large opening in that mask, in
that ski mask. All the same, for the lack of
a better term, can you do digital facial identification from
what we see?
Speaker 6 (24:45):
It's well, I think that would depend on how much
Now we have seen images, especially that Starbucks video, you
get his eyes and his full exposed nose. Others have
the mask up covering his nose, So some footage is
better than others.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
It's a lot.
Speaker 6 (25:00):
I don't know there's enough though to reconstruct an entire
face digitally, but I think you know, but again, you
can recognize people from the size of their bill, their
shoulder with you know, whether or not they're fat, skinny, tall, short.
I think a lot of people might be able to
recognize that person without seeing every detail of it, of
his face, you know.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
It certainly one of those stories where everybody has speculation
about and I think that you alluded to this a
moment ago, but right after it happened, not just myself,
but a couple of other people here said almost immediately,
it is going to be somebody disgruntled because they something
wasn't paid and possibly somebody and their family died and
(25:38):
they felt like they didn't get the healthcare that that
person deserves because they didn't get the insurance money to
take care of that person. I mean, for someone to
go to this length to kill this man and then
walk away, you would at least have to start at
the fact that something traumatic happened to him, or something
(26:00):
awful happened to him, and he blames this man, right.
Speaker 6 (26:04):
And we also don't know if this man was already
on police radar from the earlier threats the family had received.
It's possible that as those were being investigated, likely in
Minnesota where he had lived, whether or not, they had
already built possibly a list of suspects who were making
these threats, and then it may make it easier to
narrow down as part of their investigation who was responsible yesterday.
(26:29):
But to find shell Casings with the words deny, defend,
depose again, that suggests that this is related to the
claims that may have been denied by United Health Group.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Yeah, that seemed to make it personal. You're right, those
words made it personal. Rory O'Neil. I know we're early
on in investigation, but I really appreciate your expertise on this. Thanks, Larry.
Speaker 6 (26:54):
We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
I'll talk to you. Rory O'Neill, Wor National Correspondent. It's
really difficult for people that are covering this case right
now because the police obviously know a lot more than
they're going to let out right now, and they may
know who the guy is. We don't know. You're never
going to know. So even though it sounds like they
(27:17):
don't have that person, I've covered so many not a
case like this exactly, but I've covered so many murder
cases where very early on they know who it is.
Speaker 4 (27:28):
It's twenty four hours later. I can't believe we haven't
you know, we don't know where he is. Well, maybe
they do know where he is, but they haven't gone
to him yet.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
You know what I'm saying is they don't know who
it is. That you believe they don't know who it is,
but they know who he is, and they just have
to try to track him down at this point, and
so my feeling is that is probably going to be
the case. I would be shocked if in the next
week he's not arrested somewhere. Why does Major League Baseball
(27:59):
keep messing with the rules. The latest proposal is well
bonkers will tell you all about it next. Welcome back.
I'm Larry Mante. You've been great with your talkbacks. Thank
you so much for doing that, because we always love
to hear from you. You go to the iHeart app,
go to seven to ten WR and just hit the
(28:21):
microphone and record, and then we play it on the air.
Like this person who wanted to call in and talk
about landlines.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
Here's a shocker. Most people don't know that their landline
is attached to their internet. Guess what if your internet
goes down, you have no landline?
Speaker 1 (28:38):
Is that right?
Speaker 9 (28:38):
No?
Speaker 4 (28:39):
No, no, no, See she's getting confused. A lot of
people think when you have a phone in your house
that looks like it's plugged into something, it's really plugged
into your router. It's not an old landline. So cable
companies will provide phone numbers for you, and people think
(28:59):
of them landlines because you're using those old, you know,
cordless phones. No, that's not not a landline.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
You're certain about this.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
Absolutely landlines or the reason why they're actually ending landlines
is because the whole infrastructure is so old it's just
too expensive to repair. There's copper lines and it's just
not worth them fixing them anymore.
Speaker 7 (29:21):
But that is through your cable system. Okay, different, different, different.
I don't know the answer to that, so I'm gonna
have to take your word for it. You seem extremely confident,
like you worked at at and T.
Speaker 6 (29:34):
HI.
Speaker 10 (29:34):
This is Clodia from White Planes, And I love my
landline because we have terrible cell service in my neighborhood
and to talk to anybody on my cell phone, I
have to go outside and stand in the middle of
the street. So the landline is a lifesaver, especially for
doctors or important messages that are coming in. So don't
(29:56):
lose the landlines.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
I agree with you an important wa you know, hey mom,
the crazy ladies back in the middle of the street
again talking on the phone.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
That's terrible though, that she has such poor cell service
in her area. Where does she live?
Speaker 1 (30:12):
Well, actually, I have bad cell service in my area.
I'm going to get my landline back before they go away.
One last one. This is about the baby carrots that
I was stunned to find out are just real carrots
that are shaved down to look like a baby carrot.
Speaker 9 (30:31):
Good morning, Larry about your story with the baby carrots.
Have ever seen big carrots in a bunch with stems
and leaves? How many times they've seen little baby carrots
in a bunch with little baby stems and little baby leaves?
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (30:46):
I think so.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Wait a second, I thought they were like human babies.
You grow all that other stuff later on. Oh my,
you shn't have a mustache for a baby carrot. They're
going to be pure and bald and not a lot
of hair.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
Every day, we're gonna we're gonna come up with something
that's gonna shock Larry. Carrots.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
It's not funny, So I'd say, we're gonna talk. It's
not funny, it's it's really it's really upsetting to me.
Can you give me a moment?
Speaker 4 (31:17):
I will, Well, what's really not funny is the story
that you're gonna tell me right now.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
This is unbelievable. Major League Baseball is talking about you know,
they're coming up with all these new rules. Half of
them are great because they speed up the game. Half
of them are insane. And when I say insane, I
mean it in the pure sense of the word, absolutely insane.
So the latest one they're talking about is the golden
(31:43):
bat rule, and that is so it's after the seventh inning.
The team that's behind is allowed now to allow if
the game's on the line, like they have the bases
loaded and their worst hitter is up, they can repl
place that hitter with their best hitter.
Speaker 4 (32:03):
Poor, poor bad hitter. Right, it's just get booted.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
I was just saying that this is insane because that's
what makes the game funny.
Speaker 4 (32:11):
Un Stand the.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Nature of the game. We Bucky Dent wouldn't be a
household word if they held the golden bat. You know.
Speaker 4 (32:20):
So they're doing this not to speed up the game.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Well they're not doing it yet.
Speaker 4 (32:24):
Right, No, No, No, they're not doing it. Proposed is to
make it more exciting.
Speaker 1 (32:29):
Because yes, because they want people to go, you know,
yell out golden bat. Wouldn't it be cool if you
actually had to bring out a golden bat?
Speaker 2 (32:37):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (32:37):
Yeah, I bet that that would be fun. They really
need to paint a gold kind of like.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Thoseated gold real gold, so that it's tougher to swing.
And then you have to get to see Juan Soto
going out trying to swing a golden bat. Now that
i'd be.
Speaker 4 (32:52):
For baseball purists out there must be going crazy on this.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
No, it's ridiculous. And and look, half of me thinks
that the commissioner was just trolling us because this is
such a ridiculous idea, and he said it. I guess
he let it slip out on a podcast. So my
feeling is that this can't be real. Kenneth, it is
so absurd. Of all the absurd ideas they've come up with,
(33:21):
and they've come up with some pretty bad ones, this
would be the most absurd. We shocking numbers out this
week there are fifty eight thousand migrant criminals. I went,
we uh, because I missed Natalie mcgleiorre if. I know
she has a vacation day and I was gonna talk
about her. Shocking numbers out this week that there are
(33:45):
fifty eight thousand migrant criminals on the streets of New York.
We'll talk with the man who released that information, Kenneth Janalo,
the ICE director in New York that's coming up after
the nine o'clock news
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