WSJ What’s News - Police Arrest Person of Interest in UnitedHealth Executive Shooting

Episode Date: December 9, 2024

P.M. Edition for Dec. 9. Police have arrested a 26-year-old man in Pennsylvania on firearms charges tied to last week’s killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. And as the U.S. scrambles to meet Syria’s new political reality, WSJ national security correspondent Michael Gordon talks us through the options. Plus, Americans are driving older cars, but they are also deferring their maintenance, says WSJ global editor of Heard on the Street Spencer Jakab. Alex Ossola hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amazon Q Business is the generative AI assistant from AWS. Because business can be slow, like wading through mud. But Amazon Q helps streamline work, so tasks like summarizing monthly results can be done in no time. Learn what Amazon Q Business can do for you at aws.com slash learn more. Police arrest a strong person of interest in the killing of the United Health Executive. And, U.S. officials scramble to understand the groups that may shape Syria's new government as they figure out just how much influence they might have.

The U.S. is starting from a bit of a disadvantage. As a former official put it to me, the Syria issue wasn't just on a back burner for the Biden administration. Really, the whole stove had been shut down. Plus, China opens an antitrust probe into US chipmaker Nvidia. It's Monday, December 9th. I'm Alex Osala for The Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

First, an update on the search for the person who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Police have arrested on firearms charges 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, whom authorities called, quote, a strong person of interest in the shooting. An employee at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, saw Mangione eating and called the police this morning. New York City Mayor Eric Adams praised the employee and law enforcement. The chief of detectives and the police commissioner made the decision to release as much of a photo

that we had at the time. We sent it across the country and someone, a McDonald's employee, did something we ask every American to do. If you see something, say something, but most importantly, do something, and they did. And because of that, we believe we have a strong person of interest to deal with this case.

Police said Mangione was acting suspiciously and had a firearm suppressor, a ghost gun potentially made with a 3D printer, and clothing and a mask consistent with the suspects. He also had a US passport and multiple fraudulent IDs. Among them, a New Jersey ID that matched the one the suspect used to check into a New York City hostel. Police said Mangione was born and raised in Maryland and was believed to have attended college in Pennsylvania.

He had ties to San Francisco and his last known address was in Honolulu. Police believe he was acting alone. China announced that it's investigating American chipmaker Nvidia for antitrust issues. An Nvidia spokesman said customers are free to choose which chips they use and that the company wins on the merit of its products. China's move comes a week after U.S. policymakers introduced new restrictions on memory chips that power AI applications that can be sold to China. Lisa Lin, a reporter and editor for The Wall Street Journal, says that China aims to send a message to the U.S. China has used antitrust law as a retaliatory tool since the trade war during the first

Trump administration. Back then, China used the NXP and Qualcomm semiconductor deal as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations with Trump. Now that we see Donald Trump coming back into the White House again, China is trying to send an early message to the administration telling them that it has the capacity to react should Trump decide to introduce

more aggressive trade action. US stocks slipped to start the week, highlighted by declines in Nvidia shares after China announced that antitrust probe into the chip giant. All three major indexes fell, with the Dow dropping 0.5% and the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ both giving up 0.6%. Up next, we have a couple of exclusive business stories for you. Jeep maker Stellantis is shuffling its executive ranks in North America. A Stellantis spokeswoman said that the changes include the return of company veteran Timothy

Kaniskes to run Stellantis' Ram truck brand. The company also named a new U.S. sales chief. Earlier this month, CEO Carlos Tavares abruptly resigned after a tumultuous year for the global automaker, including a plunge in sales, several executive departures, and increasing friction among the company's U.S. dealers and politicians around the world. And consulting giant McKinsey is promoting about 200 employees to partners. That's according to people familiar with the matter. It's one of the smallest groups in years,

down about 20% from last year. McKinsey is still expected to expand its overall headcount this year, though its partnership class has been shrinking in recent years. Coming up, what the situation in Syria means for the U.S. and the rest of the Middle East. That's after the break.

for the U.S. and the rest of the Middle East. That's after the break. Four tasty chicken tenders, four regular-sized, and everybody's favorite, four buttermilk biscuits. Hurry up though, like the holiday season Popeyes $25 Festa Family Box deal will be over before you know it. For the Biden administration, the unexpectedly rapid downfall of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria has turned the country's future from a backburner issue to a suddenly high-stakes concern. The situation has sent U.S. officials scrambling to understand the intentions of the rebel groups that drove Assad into exile. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, is one group

that's expected to play a pivotal role in whatever government emerges. But HTS used to be part of Al Qaeda's branch in Syria and is on the US list of foreign terrorist organizations. Here to talk about where the US goes from here is Wall Street Journal national security correspondent Michael Gordon. So Michael, what is the US doing to get some influence in this new reality in Syria? The US is starting from a bit of a disadvantage. As a former official put it to me, the Syria issue wasn't just on a back burner

for the Biden administration. Really, the whole stove had been shut down. It just wasn't on their radar as a priority foreign policy issue beyond the campaign to continue the fight against ISIS. And I'd have to say the same was true of the preceding Trump administration as well. So what's happening now is President Biden is reaching out to leaders in the region, at least that's what we were told yesterday was going to happen. Senior officials will be going to the region and the U.S. will begin the process of reaching

out to this varied Syrian opposition, which does contain the HTS organization you reference but also a whole panoply of other groups that the U.S. previously was associated with. It sounds like a pretty rapidly changing situation. What is the best-case scenario and worst-case scenario for the U.S.? The best-case solution would be the formation of a new Syrian government that was tolerant, cross-sectarian, and which was determined to ensure that Iran could not use Syrian territory for its own designs or to send

weapons to Hezbollah and Lebanon. That's the best case. If that happens, Syria, which has been a close ally of Tehran, would be removed as a piece in Iran's so-called axis of resistance. It would be a positive element for the U.S. and for Israel too. The worst case solution is that Syria falls into chaos or that a militant Islamist group comes to power and then it becomes a launching pad for a disorder in the region. It borders on a number of critical countries to include Jordan. And so that's the best case and the worst case.

And right now I'd say the U.S. and also a lot of Arab states in the region are in the process of taking stock and trying to forge ties with the new powers that be in Damascus. You mentioned Iran and its stake here. Part of the broader concern for the U.S. is that Syria isn't just existing in a vacuum, right? Israel's involved, Turkey's involved. What could the impact be on the broader region? Syria is in a strategically important location, just as a state that's adjacent to Iraq and Jordan and Israel and Lebanon and Turkey. Events that happen in Syria are important, certainly for the lives of Syrians, but they have implications elsewhere.

And there are a lot of countries that are also interested in shaping the internal situation in Syria. So one of the challenges is not just whether these disparate Syrian groups can, HTS and others can get along and forge some sort of government among themselves, but it's in curbing some of the appetites of the powers that want to intervene in the region. That was Wall Street Journal National Security correspondent Michael Gordon. Americans have not been buying as many new cars lately. For the past few years, potential car buyers have been pinched by inflation, higher interest

rates and supply chain woes. So they're sticking with their older models. In fact, the average passenger car is now over 13 years old versus 30 years ago when the average was about 8 years old. Now that sounds like it could be great news for auto parts makers and repair companies, but that's not the case. My colleague Anthony Bansi spoke with Spencer Jacob, a global editor of Hurt on the Street, and asked him why Americans aren't spending as much on repairs.

The most likely explanation is that they're squeezed in terms of their household finances. If you look at what we're seeing from dollar stores or fast food chains, things like that, that typically cater from the middle to the low income consumer, That's the typical clientele for a quick lube. People who tend to have older cars and then try to save money by taking them someplace that's a bit cheaper. And you see them buying what's called tier four or tier three tires.

Tier four tires are like the kind of no-name tires that you'll go to Mavis Discount Tire. It's a Chinese import that might not last as long, doesn't have a warranty certainly for as many miles. And it has less strict safety and quality standards than a Goodyear or a Firestone or one of the tier one or tier two brands that you might spend a lot more money on. And what kind of impact is this trend of deferring car repairs having on companies?

Some of the companies in the sector are really taking it on the chin and others are having a pretty mild impact. So genuine parts, which is both an industrial supply company and has a retail auto parts business called Napa. They reported pretty disappointing quarterly results. Their stock fell by a fifth in one day, which is its biggest one day fall ever. Monroe, a chain of tire and brake shops

also had a big fall some months back. Valvoline, the quick lube, oil and filter change people, they also saw their stock fall a lot after reporting just somewhat soft results. They're still doing okay, oil and filter change people. have barely missed a beat. What they're saying is that they're seeing more softness and sort of discretionary purchases, but people are still coming in. You know, if you need windshield wipers,

you can't drive without those, you still need to replace those. And so people are coming in for that kind of thing. And of course, they're also the value option. I mean, if you really want to save a few dollars, it is generally cheaper to go to them. That was heard on the street editor, Spencer Jacob, speaking with my colleague, Anthony Bansi.

And that's what's news for this Monday afternoon. Today's show was produced by Anthony Bansi with supervising producer Michael Kosmitis. I'm Alex Oseloff for The Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.