NYC NOW - Midday News: UnitedHealthcare CEO Fatally Shot in Midtown, Jury in Daniel Penny Trial Reviews Video Evidence, NY State Senator Eyes DNC Leadership

Episode Date: December 4, 2024

Police are still seeking a suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan Wednesday morning. WNYC’s Charles Lane has more. Meanwhile, jurors in the trial of Daniel Penny, who is accused of fatally choking a fellow subway rider on an uptown F train last year, ask to re-watch key video footage. Finally, New York state Senator James Skoufis is running to chair the Democratic National Committee after the party's election losses.

Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Wednesday, December 4th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. To our top story, NYPD brass says the shooting death of United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson appears to be premeditated and targeted killing. Police say the shooter waited this morning for Thompson outside the residence's Hilton Club hotel at 6th Avenue and West 54th Street where the health care company was holding its annual

investor conference. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch says that despite the location of the shooting, she anticipates a heavy security presence so tonight's nearby tree lighting at Rockefeller Center can happen without a problem. Millions of people will be enjoying the tree lighting tonight, among other holiday events, and the NYPD will be out there with them, keeping them safe. Police are asking for the public's help in the meantime to find the shooter and have increased the crime stoppers reward to $10,000. Police say the shooter was last seen in Central Park and that the motive for the shooting is unknown. WMIC's Charles Lane has been on this developing story and joins us now. This took place Charles in Midtown, just around the corner from the Museum of Modern Art.

How unusual is a crime, a killing like this for that neighborhood? It's extremely unusual. The governess actually tracks NYPD shooting across the city, and there hasn't been a fatal shooting in this part of Manhattan, which is right below Central Park at all this year. But in talking to police throughout the morning, they can't think of anything similar happening in recent years and perhaps recent decades. So this is, I mean, I think this is what happens has everybody on high alert, is that it's just such an extreme shooting in a rare place of a high-profile person.

Thompson was in town for United Health Group's annual investor conference. It's a Fortune 500 company that was scheduled to start at 8 o'clock this morning. What do we know about him, about Thompson? According to the company's website, Thompson was named CEO of United Healthcare in April of 2021. After first joining the company in 2004, he's worked in a variety of roles. What's interesting here is United Healthcare, it's a huge company. It's a division of United Health Group, which is one of the largest in health insurance firms in the country.

And it actually employs the largest number of physicians in the country. The U.S. Justice Department has recently taken action against United Health Care Group. They're dominant in the healthcare industry, filing a recent civil antitrust lawsuit to block them from getting even bigger. WNIC is Charles Lane there on the phone with us talking about the shooting of Brian Thompson, the United Health Care CEO in Midtown, Manhattan, about 6.45 this morning, and we hope to have much more information throughout the day right here on WNIC. Charles, thanks so much. No, thank you.

The jurors deciding the fate of the man accused of killing a fellow subway rider with a chokeholder now reviewing video evidence, they asked the judge if they could re-watch the judge, if they could re-watch the video showing when Daniel Penny, the defendant, held Jordan Neely in a chokehold on an F train last spring. They also wanted to see police body-worn camera video from the scene and Penny's interview with detectives. The jury has been deliberating since yesterday afternoon. Penny's defense says he was trying to keep himself and other passengers safe because Neely was yelling and they were scared. 38 with some sunshine now in the city, mostly cloudy today in the high of 41,

it'll be gusty, and then rain and snow likely tonight, then all rain, a low of 39, windy and gusty. We have a wind advisory kicking in tomorrow because it will be quite windy with a slim chance of late morning showers. Stay close. There's more after the break. Here on WNYC, I'm Tiffany Hanson. New York State Senator James Scoofus is running for chair of the Democratic National Committee. If you don't know who Senator Scoofus is, you're not alone. He's not very well known outside of his district in Orange County in the Hudson Valley. But the senator is hoping that's part of his appeal to lead the National Party following their defeat in last month's election. WNYC's John Campbell has covered scufus at the state capital for years and he joins us now.

Hi, John. Hi, Stephanie. All right, let's start with the DNC. Chairman Jamie Harrison is a South Carolina Democrat. He's not running for a second term. So start by just telling us what is the chair actually? do and who votes for that position? Absolutely. The Democratic National Committee is the Democratic Party's national organization. It's

dedicated to electing Democrats up and down the ballot all over the country. And the chairperson is really the head of that organization. It's this big nationally prominent role, particularly when the party's candidate is not in the White House. The chair has this big role at the Democratic National Convention. You often see them. them on cable news programs, the Sunday shows, touting their party's contenders, and they play a big role in determining the party's national message and national strategy. Now, the chair is elected by the 400 or so voting members of the DNC, and that's really a mix of Democratic governors and office holders and political leaders from all across the country, and they'll be voting on a new chair

February 1st. Well, John, you say that this is a big nationally prominent role. The person we're talking about, as I said in the open there, is maybe not necessarily that well known outside of Orange County. So start by telling us now, who is he, and why does he think he can do this job? Well, Tiffany, James Schufis is a Democratic state senator from Cornwall in an Orange County up near West Point, if you're familiar with that area. And he's been in the state Senate since 2019. He was quite young when he was elected. He's only 37 now. And he's established himself as a moderate Democrat in a district that has suburbs and excerpts and rural areas, and it often votes Republican, including for President Trump. Here's how he introduced himself in a video launching

this campaign. I've won on tough Trump turf three times. I've won when governors face red waves, all while bringing the Democratic Big Ten together and never sacrificing our values. He says he's running for the job because he wants somebody from outside the D.C. Beltway to run the party. And he sees the party in need of a refresh in that way. He's been making a point to refer to himself as a, quote, outsider in the race. Well, despite how he's positioning himself, he doesn't really have any endorsements from voting members of the DNC at this point, right? Yeah, and it's a long shot any way you look at it. I mean, he's one of four candidates in the race so far.

The other three are more established leaders within the National Democratic Party. That includes Martin O'Malley. He's the former Maryland governor and head of the Social Security Administration. There's some other names here, too, Wisconsin Democratic Chair, Ben Wickler and Ken Martin. He's the head of the Minnesota Democratic Party, and he's a vice chair of the DNC. so he's known within the party. But Scoofus is really banking on that, quote-unquote, outsider approach, winning over DNC members. Here's how he explained his message on News Nation, the cable news station.

We have forgotten how to show up to some places. We have forgotten how to communicate in normal, effective terms and manners with people, especially in the middle. And that has all led us to forget about how to win as Democrats. And again, he's facing a really big uproids. he'll climb here. But Tiffany, even if he doesn't win, there's no doubt this will raise his national profile. And that can certainly come in handy if, say, he wants to run for Congress or some other higher office someday. I see. All right. Well, some of these names that you threw around there, John Ben Winkler, the Wisconsin Democratic Chair, Ken Martin, head of the Minnesota Democratic

Party, also outside the Beltway. I'm wondering if there are any other candidates that we can expect to throw their hats in either inside or outside the beltway. And to that point, are there any other New Yorkers that you see potentially throwing their hat the ring? Yeah, Tiffany, I think it's a pretty safe bet that we're going to see more candidates hop in the race. And yeah, some of them could be from New York. There's two in particular that have been making a little bit of noise about a potential candidacy that includes Max Rose, the former House member from Staten Island. He's a moderate Democrat who won a district that tended to vote Republican back in 2018, but he was defeated by Representative Nicole Maliatakis after one term.

Another name to watch Michael Blake, former Obama administration official and state assembly member from the Bronx. He was a vice chair of the DNC. He suggested he may run, but he also recently launched a campaign for New York City mayor, so that certainly could complicate things. John, thanks so much for breaking it all down for us. We appreciate it. Thanks, Tiffany. Thanks for listening. from WMYC. Catch us every weekday

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