12/9/24: Jeremy Scahill On Fall Of Assad In Syria, CEO Killer Backpack Found With Monopoly Money, Bill Burr Goes Off On CEO, Bird Flu Scare

Summary

Podcast Summary: Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar Episode: December 9, 2024
Title: Jeremy Scahill On Fall Of Assad In Syria, CEO Killer Backpack Found With Monopoly Money, Bill Burr Goes Off On CEO, Bird Flu Scare
Release Date: December 9, 2024

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1. Introduction

In this episode of Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar, hosts Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti delve into several pressing news topics, including the dramatic fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, an intense manhunt for a healthcare CEO’s killer, a burgeoning bird flu crisis threatening the U.S. dairy industry, and cultural reactions to corporate malfeasance. The episode features a special guest, investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill, who provides in-depth analysis on the Syrian conflict and Middle Eastern geopolitics.

2. Collapse of the Assad Regime in Syria

[05:51 - 21:49]

Krystal and Saagar open the discussion with the shocking news of Bashar al-Assad’s government collapsing in Syria. Assad has reportedly fled the country, leading to a power vacuum and potential instability in the region. Jeremy Scahill joins the conversation to unpack the implications of this sudden political shift.

Key Points:

• Rapid Government Collapse: The Syrian regime collapsed within days, reminiscent of the fall of Baghdad, with Assad fleeing to Moscow.
• Rebel Leadership: Al Jelani, leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), now emerges as the presumptive leader of Damascus. However, his ties to Al Qaeda raise concerns about future governance.
• Historical Context: Scahill emphasizes the prolonged civil war since 2012, involving multiple factions, foreign interventions, and significant human rights abuses.
• Future Uncertainty: The episode highlights the precarious situation for Syria’s diverse population, including Kurds, Christians, and Druze, under potential HTS control.

Notable Quote:

Jeremy Scahill [05:51]: "This is a committed jihadist who has been fighting either US Forces, the West, or religious minorities in Syria for over a decade. This final conclusion of the Syrian Civil War raises more questions than answers about the future stability of the region."

3. The Manhunt for the CEO’s Killer

[29:18 - 38:57]

The discussion shifts to the ongoing manhunt for the murderer of a healthcare CEO, whose backpack containing Monopoly money and a jacket was found in Central Park. The hosts analyze the challenges the NYPD faces in apprehending the suspect.

Key Points:

• Bag Details: The killer’s backpack, containing seemingly whimsical items like Monopoly money, makes it challenging to trace motives.
• Surveillance and Evasion: Despite New York City's extensive surveillance systems, including 25,000 traffic cameras and drone monitoring over Central Park, the suspect remains elusive.
• Potential Escape Routes: Speculation arises that the suspect might have fled via the George Washington Bus Terminal, a major hub with over 900 buses and 10,000 daily passengers.
• Operational Challenges: The NYPD’s strategy to withhold the suspect’s name to prevent giving him an upper hand is met with skepticism by the hosts, questioning its effectiveness.

Notable Quote:

Hoda Kotb [29:32]: "It's just freaking huge. I mean, that's the number one thing that should stand out. It makes up 6% of Manhattan. There are eight lakes and ponds."

4. Bird Flu Scare and USDA Measures

[59:41 - 72:15]

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to the emerging bird flu threat impacting the U.S. dairy industry. The USDA has ordered widespread testing of the nation's milk supply to prevent a potential pandemic.

Key Points:

• Virus Spread: Bird flu has infected over 720 dairy herds across 15 states, with California being the hardest hit. There are concerns about the virus mutating to enable human-to-human transmission.
• USDA Intervention: The Department of Agriculture is implementing testing protocols on bulk milk pools before pasteurization to identify and quarantine infected herds.
• Public Health Risk: Although pasteurized milk remains safe, there is alarm over raw milk batches testing positive, raising fears of a new pandemic similar to COVID-19.
• Delayed Response Criticism: Krystal and Saagar criticize the USDA for delaying action due to dairy industry lobbying and fear of disrupting milk profits, potentially exacerbating the virus's spread.

Notable Quote:

Krystal Ball [64:23]: "The real conspiracy is about prioritizing dairy industry profits over public health, allowing the bird flu to spread unchecked and risking a new pandemic."

5. Corporate Reactions and Cultural Responses

[43:30 - 55:54]

The episode explores corporate responses to the CEO’s murder, particularly within the healthcare sector, and the broader cultural ramifications.

Key Points:

• UnitedHealth CEO's Strategy: Following the CEO's murder, internal communications from UnitedHealth’s leader advise against engaging with the media to prevent misinformation and maintain organizational control.
• Healthcare System Critique: Krystal and Saagar delve into the systemic issues within the American healthcare system, highlighting profit motives that prioritize insurance companies over patient care.
• Bill Burr’s Commentary: Comedian Bill Burr criticizes healthcare executives, labeling them as "gangsters" and highlighting public frustration with corporate malpractices.

Notable Quotes:

UnitedHealth CEO [48:33]: "We are going to continue to make sure that we put patients, consumers and members first, as we always have done."

Bill Burr [41:12]: "The healthcare executives are like gangsters, profiting off people's pain and suffering. It's a dirty game."

6. Additional Topics: Civil Lawsuit Against Jay Z

[03:40 - 05:21]

The podcast briefly touches on a civil lawsuit filed against Jay Z, accusing him of raping a 13-year-old girl—a claim he vehemently denies. The hosts discuss the implications of such high-profile allegations on celebrity culture and accountability.

Key Points:

• Allegations: Jay Z is named in a lawsuit alleging sexual assault, reflecting ongoing issues of sexual misconduct in the entertainment industry.
• Legal and Public Impact: The hosts consider the potential legal battles and the broader societal push for holding powerful figures accountable.
• Public Skepticism: There is skepticism about the timely release and handling of the suspect’s information by authorities, adding to the complexity of the case.

Notable Quote:

Krystal Ball [03:40]: "It's linked to the Diddy allegations, but now Jay Z has been named. This development is shaking the foundations of celebrity accountability."

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Conclusion

This episode of Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar provides a comprehensive analysis of significant global and domestic issues, from geopolitical turmoil in Syria to the intricacies of the U.S. healthcare system and emerging public health threats. Guest Jeremy Scahill offers valuable insights into the complexities of Middle Eastern politics, while the hosts critically examine systemic problems and cultural reactions to high-profile events. The episode underscores the importance of independent media in holding powerful entities accountable and highlights the interconnectedness of global events with domestic policies.

Overall Notable Quote:

Jeremy Scahill [25:19]: "Netanyahu and Israel are exploiting the collapse of Assad’s regime to seize territory, disregarding regional stability for their own security agenda. This is not about self-defense but about territorial expansion."

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Disclaimer: This summary is based on the provided transcript and aims to encapsulate the key discussions and insights shared during the podcast episode. For a complete understanding, listening to the full episode is recommended.

Transcript

[Savannah Guthrie]

All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird shaped knives.

[Hoda Kotb]

And forks with the appropriate cheeses. And I plugged in the Partisan.

[Jeremy Scahill]

Partisan.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It's a home cocktail maker that makes.

[Hoda Kotb]

Over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Lot of seasonal favorites too. I just got it for 50 off. So how about a Cosmopolitan or a Mistletoe margarita?

[Jeremy Scahill]

I'm thirsty.

[Hoda Kotb]

Watch. I just pop in a capsule, choose.

[Savannah Guthrie]

My strength and wow, it's beginning to.

[Jeremy Scahill]

Feel more seasonal in here already.

[Hoda Kotb]

If your holiday party doesn't have a.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian, because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off. Tis the season to be jollier.

[Hoda Kotb]

Add some holiday flavor to every celebration with the sleek, sophisticated home cocktail maker Bartesian. Pick up your phone and shake it to get $50 off any cocktail maker. Yes, you heard me. Shake your phone and get $50 off. Don't delay. After investing billions to light up our network, T Mobile is America's largest 5G network. Plus right now you can switch keep your phone and we'll pay it off up to $800. See how you can save on every plan versus Verizon and ATT. @t mobile.com Keep and switch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlocked device credit service ported 90 plus days with device ineligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months. Hi everyone.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It's Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Copy from the Today Show.

[Hoda Kotb]

Nobody does the holidays like today. From festive performances and great gift ideas.

[Jeremy Scahill]

To tips for the perfect holiday feast.

[Hoda Kotb]

Join us every morning on NBC and make today your home for the holidays. Hey guys, Sager and Crystal here.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Independent media just played a truly massive role in this election and we are so excited about what that means for the future of this show.

[Hoda Kotb]

This is the only place where you can find honest perspectives from the left and the right that simply does not exist anywhere else.

[Savannah Guthrie]

So if that is something that's important to you, Please go to BreakingPoints.com, become a member today and you'll get access to our full shows unedited ad free and all put together for you every morning in your inbox.

[Hoda Kotb]

We need your help to build the future of independent news media and we hope to see [e-mail] Good morning everybody. Happy Monday. Have an amazing show for everybody today. What do we have Chris?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Sal, indeed we do. Lots of gigantic news unfolding. Bashar al Assad's government in Syria has collapsed. He has fled the country too, Moscow. Jeremy Scahill is going to join us to try to figure out what the hell is going on and what might come next, as best as anyone can possibly figure. Also, the manhunt for that killer of the healthcare CEO continues. Some interesting evidence has been located and also the cultural reaction continues as well. And our own Ken Klippenstein got leaked. The CEO of that company is like the larger healthcare group. His response, which is interesting as well. The FDA has announced a new sweeping testing regime of the nation's dairy supply amid fears of a new pandemic sparked by bird flu which has been ravaging dairy cow herds across the western part of the country. So something definitely to keep an eye on there. Trump gave a wide ranging interview to Kristen Welker over at NBC News. We'll bring you some of the highlights of that and a little bit of reaction. I'm taking a look at all of the billionaires in Trump's administration and what they might want. And we also had an update last evening. A civil lawsuit has been filed against Jay Z accusing him of raping a 13 year old girl. He of course denies the charges, but we will tell you what we know about that as well.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah, there's a lot going on there.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah, this is linked to the Diddy allegations. So we actually had heard some of this from this at the time. Girl, now woman. But Jay Z hadn't been named. So now the new addition is that he has been named as part.

[Hoda Kotb]

He's been named, he's fighting back hard. Drama involving the lawyers, et cetera. We'll get to all of that. But thank you to all of our premium subscribers. We love you. We appreciate you. Thank you very much. We really just been we've been thinking just about how to build the show for the future and more. And we're just so thankful to have all of you. And also just to see the overwhelming number of people who came in after the election. It's great to have you. As you said, we took a look at our Spotify wrapped numbers and there's always some great surprises. The Vaush Dave Smith debate is our number one shared episode of the year, which is amazing. Also is a counterpoints debate, literally. So that was thanks to our premium subscribers to be able to expand content. There's a lot of interesting stuff in those in terms of the amount of growth that we've received over after the Election. Actually, you know, you would assume that our election coverage be the most downloaded, but it was actually our post election coverage which is the most downloaded. Oh, really?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Oh, I didn't see that.

[Hoda Kotb]

November 20, 2024 is the largest day in the history of breaking points, like by a mile, which is amazing. But I don't really nothing in particular even like happened that day. Something went viral.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Interesting.

[Hoda Kotb]

So we could see that, you know, in terms of numbers. But yes, thank you to seriously, maybe hundreds of thousands of people who joined the podcast just this last year. So thanks very much. And if you can't become a premium subscriber, no worries. You can still help us out by liking the video on YouTube, sharing it or if you're in the episode and you just literally just text it to somebody and share it with them, it really does help us out here. So thank you.

[Savannah Guthrie]

That conversation Emily and Ryan did with the Seeking arrangements, Sugar baby, I got.

[Hoda Kotb]

A lot of shares too, actually.

[Savannah Guthrie]

That got a lot of interest, a lot of discussion around that one.

[Hoda Kotb]

Some people were not happy, but some people like. Yeah, I liked.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I thought it was very interesting personally to hear. So in any case, you guys make those, that expansion of the show possible. We're actually having a big meeting today with our producers to think about next year and what we can do to continue to build. So thank you guys all so much for your support. All right, Sagar, what is going on in Syria?

[Hoda Kotb]

Oh, my God. What is not going on in Syria? We're going to start off with some video. So let's go ahead and play some of this for the audience. I'm going to talk over it. While it is just stunning scenes with the fall of Damascus to these quote unquote rebels. We'll tell you about those rebels in a little bit. But you can literally see, you know, scenes reminiscent of the fall of Baghdad, the destruction of Assad statues, both Bashar al Assad and his own father who ruled the country for some 50 odd years. The most shocking scenes really are some of these that have been coming out of the secret and historic prison that was in Damascus that housed a lot of these political prisoners, you know, small children, lots of women, men, who have been locked in these cells for what, some odd years now. I saw some reports that some of them literally didn't even know what a smartphone was. Crystal. That's how long they've been locked up. Yeah, if you think the civil war's been going on since 2012, maybe even with the brutal regime, a lot of these people have been housed in There for a long time. Some eyes also open for Austin Tice, the American citizen. The US Government does believe he is alive and he was being held by the Assad regime. So we're hoping that he's returned sometime soon. This apparently, is a bunch of rebels trying to figure out how to operate a helicopter. But here we have Al Jelani, the leader of hts, the new presumptive leader, I guess, of Damascus, not of Syria, giving a speech, talking about, quote, there's no house in Syria. The war is knocked down on. Praise be to God. Today you are recovering, God willing, thank God. Mr. Jelani is literally a wanted terrorist by the United States government and that at one point, we're offering a $10 million reward for his capture. His own history is a little bit shocking. And really from step, step is just failure of US Policy after failure of a policy. This is a man who is radicalized by the second intifada, becomes a committed jihadist, goes to fight in Iraq. He is held in the infamous kind of basically jihadi university prison by United States forces. In 2003 and 2004, he's released. He joins Zarqawi's Al Qaeda in Iraq. There's eventually some drama, and he splits off and goes to Syria. And he's been one of the most committed leaders of the. The Al Qaeda offshoot in Syria. Now, you know, the defenders, quote, unquote, will say, oh, well, he's distanced himself from Al Qaeda. He's actually purged some of the elements of that. We'll see. It really does remain. But, I mean, the truth is, if you look at this man's history, he has been a committed jihadist who's been fighting either US Forces, the West, or, frankly, even some of the religious minorities inside of Syria now for over a decade. So, yes, this is the final conclusion, it seems, of the Syrian Civil War. Some 14 years, brutal civil war. Hundreds of thousands are dead. But there is no indication that this is it, right? I mean, there are still so many different religious minorities in Syria. You have the Kurdish faction, the SDF. You have 10% of the country which is Christian. You have the Druze population as well. Damascus itself, where, look, you could say a lot of things about Assad, but it actually was genuinely kind of diverse, quote, unquote. A lot of those people did support the Assad regime. Nobody knows now what's gonna happen. It's some indications in Aleppo that they haven't cracked down on religious minorities yet. We don't know. But there's gonna be no cheering Today on this show because. And I am a little heartened by this, at the very least, there is a heavy amount of realism I have seen, at least in some analysis, even at the mainstream level, Crystal, where people are like, did we. Is this a good thing? Did we win? Is this a celebration of U.S. policy? And don't brainwash yourself. Yes, this war, a lot of it was fought by Syrians. A lot of it was fought by foreigners. A lot of it was funded by foreign dollars, including our foreign dollars. And President Biden's statement, which we'll get to in a little bit, is a full on celebration. But I am at least heartened by the incoming Vice President elect and a few others being like, are we sure that this is a good thing? You know, this may actually end up being like the fall of Gaddafi and unleashing hell for this country for another 14 years.

[Savannah Guthrie]

So I don't know how you could live through Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and just feel like, yay, yeah, yay, this is going to go great. Egypt or exactly. Living through all of the Arab Spring. And so I think anyone who was sentient, who observed those moments of optimism turn into horror, I don't think anyone could watch that and just feel really super confident, especially given what we know about this faction, rebel faction, that is an offshoot of Al Qaeda. And yeah, he's saying the right things about commitment to religious and ethnic diversity within Syria. But this is a committed jihadist, a committed Islamist. So we shall see. Not to mention, you already see, and we'll get into this with Jeremy as well. You already see Israel making moves to annex territory and take advantage of the situation. Obviously there's gonna be a vacu. Obviously this is going to be a very weak government. This really came out of nowhere. I mean, I don't think this was really on anyone's radar until these rebels were able to so quickly take over Aleppo. The Syrian forces scattered. There was a realization the foreign governments, whether it was Iran or Russia, that had been backing the Assad regime, were no longer there to keep them in place. And very, very, very quickly, things collapsed. And like that, you have a new government in Syria. So with all of that setting of the table, let's go ahead and get to our guest, Jeremy Scahill, of course, co founder of Dropsite News, alongside our own Ryan Grim, who is, you know, a fantastic observer of this entire region and has a good bird's eye view of how all of these pieces fit together. So let's get to that. All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe and paired all those weird shaped knives and forks with the appropriate cheeses.

[Hoda Kotb]

And I plugged in the Barti.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It's a home cocktail maker that makes.

[Hoda Kotb]

Over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites too.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I just got it for 50 off. So how about a Cosmopolitan or a mistletoe margarita?

[Jeremy Scahill]

I'm thirsty.

[Hoda Kotb]

Watch. I just pop in a capsule, choose.

[Savannah Guthrie]

My strength and wow, it's beginning to.

[Jeremy Scahill]

Feel more seasonal in here already.

[Hoda Kotb]

If your holiday party doesn't have a.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian, because Bartesian craft every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off. Tis the season to be jollier.

[Hoda Kotb]

Add some holiday flavor to every celebration with the sleek, sophisticated home cocktail maker Bartisian. Pick up your phone and shake it to get $50 off any cocktail maker. Yes, you heard me. Shake your phone and get $50 off. Don't delay.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Hi everyone, it's Savannah Guthrie and Hoda.

[Hoda Kotb]

Kotb from the Today Show. We love this time of year.

[Savannah Guthrie]

There's so much to celebrate.

[Hoda Kotb]

That's right. Nobody does the holidays quite like today all season long. Join us for special performances with the brightest stars, plus festive recipes to whip.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Up the perfect holiday feast and great.

[Hoda Kotb]

Deals on the hottest toys and gifts.

[Savannah Guthrie]

For everyone on your list.

[Hoda Kotb]

So join us every morning on NBC to make TODAY your home for the holidays. It's better over here. Now at T Mobile get four 5G phones on us and four lines for $25 a line per month when you switch with eligible trade ins, all on America's largest 5G network. Minimum of 4 lines for $25 per line per month with auto pay discount using debit or bank account, $5 more per line without autopay plus taxes and fees and $10 device connection charge phones via 24 monthly bill credits for well qualified customers. Contact us before canceling entire account to continue bill credits or credit stop and balance on a required finance agreement due bill credits end if you pay off devices early. Ctmobile.com joining us now is Jeremy Scahill, is the co founder of Dropside News and a great journalist. Good to see you sir. Thank you.

[Jeremy Scahill]

Thanks for having me back.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah, absolutely. So Jeremy, we want to get your reaction to some of these rapid developments in Syria, but also in respect to what's happening with Israel and its current expansion of territory. First, let's get your reaction to this soundbite put out by Bibi Netanyahu in reaction let's take a listen. This is a historic day for the Middle East. The collapse of the Assad regime, the tyranny in Damascus offers great opportunity, but also is fraught with significant dangers. This collapse is a direct result of our forceful action against Hezbollah and Iran, Assad's main supporters. It set off a chain reaction of all those who want to free themselves from this tyranny and its oppression. But it also means we have to take action against possible threats. One of them is the collapse of the Separation of forces agreement from 1974 between Israel and Syria. This agreement held for 50 years. Last night it collapsed. The Syrian army abandoned its positions. We gave the Israeli army the order to take over these positions to ensure that no hostile force embeds itself right next to the border of Israel. This is a temporary defensive position until a suitable arrangement is found. Equally, we send a hand of peace to all those beyond our border in Syria, to the Jews, to the Kurds, to the Christians, and to the Muslims who want to live in peace with Israel. We're going to follow events very carefully. If we can establish neighborly relations and peaceful relations with the new forces emerging in Syria, that's our desire. But if we do not, we'll do whatever it takes to defend the State of Israel and the border of Israel. Jeremy, your reaction to that?

[Jeremy Scahill]

Let's remember that not long before October 7, Netanyahu gave a speech at the United nations in which he brandished a map of the Middle east that showed a total erasure of Palestine in any form whatsoever and portrayed it as a Greater Israel that was going to be the conduit that would connect the south and north of the world in the Eastern hemisphere with sort of a great new Silk Road that would be heralded in by Israel. And Netanyahu is made very clear that he supports a dramatic expansion of the State of Israel. And so while he may be exaggerating Israel's role or the role that it played in the events in Syria, certainly Israel's actions in the Middle east did play a role. And Netanyahu now is trying to seize the moment to literally invade kilometers into Syria. Israel does not have a track record of seizing territory and then saying, oh well, actually we were just doing this for our security, going to back out of it. I mean, look no further than the non ceasefire that the Biden administration brokered in Lebanon, where Israel has repeatedly been violating. It still has its forces occupying. But there certainly is a discussion to be had about how the impact in Gaza and Lebanon and the broader war that Netanyahu is waging in the Middle east impacted events on the ground in Syria. But this is a multidimensional conflict in Syria with a lot of foreign actors involved with it, as you alluded to earlier. So I think that on the one hand we can examine Israel's role. On the other hand, we have to talk about the United States, Turkey, Gulf countries, Russia, Hezbollah, Iran, and then the Syrian forces themselves on the ground.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Let's talk a little bit more about that. Eric, if you could put a 4 up on the screen, this tear sheet from the Wall Street Journal that lays out some of those dynamics that you're discussing. The headline here is Assad's Downfall Marks a New Realignment in the Middle East. You had Turkey backing the rebels. You had Russia previously backing Assad. Assad has now fled, reportedly to Moscow. Questions about what various countries and factions in the region stand to benefit from these developments? I mean, what is your reaction overall to what has been a stunning chain of events and total collapse of government in just a few days?

[Jeremy Scahill]

I think that there's several ways that we have to look at this, and we shouldn't strip Syrians themselves of their agency in this or their moment to sort of express relief at someone that many Syrians viewed as a butcher, a war criminal, their torturer, their main violator of human rights. You know, Crystal, I was in Iraq when Saddam Hussein emptied the Abu Ghraib prison shortly before the United States invaded Iraq. And there were coming out of that Abu Ghraib prison who had been there for decades. And we saw some of the facilities that were used to torture people in Saddam's prison. And as I've seen some of the footage coming out of prisoners being released from Assad's prisons in Syria, it brought back memories for me of that. And I think if you're talking about people that are political prisoners that have spent decades in a dungeon and have been tortured under heinous circumstances, everyone should be glad to see prisoners being liberated. So on the one hand, I fully understand understand why many Syrians are celebrating this day. On the other hand, the forces that are now taking control, HTS and others have a track record of their own brutality, of their own killing of ethnic and religious minorities, of running their own torture prison operations. And the United States for many years has had its hand in the dirty war in Syria. I mean, at one point, the United States was spending a billion dollars in CIA operations alone training so called rebe forces. You have many nations that have had a role to play in this really dirty situation. And then on the Russia and Iran side, while Bashar Assad was a member of the so called Axis of Resistance, the nation states and non state actors that had a common pledge to confront Israel in the region. Largely what Assad's support for that axis consisted of was allowing passage through Syria of weapons, logistics, personnel going into Lebanon and to resupply Hezbollah and others. But there's also a whole other part of this story which is that at times both Israel and the United States worked with Bashar Al Assad. One story that I know you guys are familiar with was that in 2002, a Canadian Syrian named Maher Arar was kidnapped at JFK Airport by the CIA and he was sent to Syria where he was tortured in those very prisons that we're seeing footage of by the Assad regime's forces. Assad was on the verge of making some sort of a deal prior to the 2011 protests breaking out. And we haven't seen Syria launching air attacks at Israel over the past year. You know, Hezbollah was doing that, Iran was doing that, even the Houthis of Yemen were doing that. But Assad has sort of played all sides of the fence. But really in the days leading to HTS seizing Aleppo, Homs, Hama and ultimately Damascus, Netanyahu was starting to directly threaten Assad and say that if he didn't stop efforts to resupply Hezbollah during this so called ceasefire, that he would directly pay a price for it. Israel has been bombing the past couple of days targets around Syria. They claim that they're trying to degrade chemical weapons, air defense systems. But Israel is certainly exploiting this opportunity to try to go in and preemptively strike all around Syria. No one should pretend that this is about self defense. No one should pretend that this is about humanitarian motives. Netanyahu and the Israeli state have a very extreme agenda to seize Arab land. And I think that's a large part of what we're seeing right now.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah, and Jeremy, we also have President Biden openly celebrating this. We have a three. Please, let's play that and we'll get his reaction. What happened in the Middle East? After 13 years of civil war in Syria, more than half a century of brutal authoritarian rule by Bashar Assad and his father before him, rebel forces have forced Assad to resign his office and flee the country. We're not sure where he is, but.

[Savannah Guthrie]

There'S word that he's in Moscow.

[Hoda Kotb]

At long last, the Assad regime has fallen. So you can see that he's at long last, it's fallen. He's celebrated it, saying the United States will continue to participate. I mean, this is not a good look if we are to literally talking about an Al Qaeda takeover of the country. So in context of the Netanyahu statement and now here, the United States president, what is the policy here that will shape what comes after now that Assad is out?

[Jeremy Scahill]

Well, you can go back and find video of Joe Biden when he was vice president, really directly stating what many people are talking about right now, which is that you have Abu Mohammed Al Jelani remains a wanted terrorist in the language of the United states with a $10 million bounty on his head. Secretary of State Blinken has not, to my knowledge, removed HTS from the list of foreign designated terrorist organizations. Jake Sullivan, the current national Security advisor, we know from WikiLeaks cables actually at one point acknowledged that Al Qaeda was on the same side as the United States in Syria. All of this is very relevant and no one should be derided for raising what our factual rendering of events and the history leading up to this. What we're going to see now is an aggressive rebranding effort. This has been going on for a couple of years with HTS and Jelani, but I think you're going to see an intensification of this. Britain already is debating whether or not to remove them from their terror designation. The United nations also has designated HTS as a terror organization. So on the one hand, the United States is opportunistic. It's looking to try to ensure that it has its own resources protected. The United States is tremendously happy that Russia has had to withdraw from its naval and air base in Syria. The United States, since going back to the 1950s, wanted to prevent Russia from having any kind of a foothold in the Middle East. So, you know, while I think that we should focus on Syrians and their views of this, the geopolitical realities of this go back many decades. It's Cold War politics. It's the US Wanting Russia out of it. It's the move toward trying to do regime change in Iran. I think the Iranians are looking at this and saying we should accelerate our attempt to get a nuclear weapon because they're watching the dominoes fall in the Middle east right now. And you have a kind of a perfect storm that has been created by the Biden administration's policy where now Donald Trump takes power. He's sending a total lunatic. Mike Huckabee as the ambassador to Israel. You could have an attempt to actually destroy The Al Aqsa mosque. You could have an attempt to do actual overt regime change in Iran and Syria. Falling, I think, has caused great nervousness in other Arab capitals where despotic regimes are fearful that this will be contagious.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Talk a little bit more about about the incoming Trump administration. What can we glean from his last time in office vis a vis his approach to the Middle east generally, but specifically towards Syria?

[Jeremy Scahill]

Well, you know, I mean, Trump put out a statement the other day that was a kind of, you know, it was a mess. It had something for everyone to read into it. And, you know, Trump is kind of a master at leaving the door open to interpretation when it comes to Israel. He has openly pledged that he's going to give Netanyahu carte blanche. If you look on paper, it would seem that very ominous days are ahead for the region. But also when Trump was in power the first time, some of the bluster and rhetoric that he unloaded on the campaign trail, when he then became the commander in chief, there were moments when he was a president that embraced notions of restraint. We know that there were big battles between some of Trump's people and Trump himself and some of the neocons like John Bolton. And then at the end of the day, I think ego plays a role in this. Does Donald Trump want to have when he enters office? Fires rage raging across the Middle East? Iran certainly put out indicators that they wanted to negotiate with Trump. It does seem like there may be some deal between Hamas and Israel that probably wouldn't have happened if Biden had another year in office and it wasn't Trump. So while I'm inclined to say that I think Trump is an ultra militaristic guy, in some ways, he does have instincts that veer off the path of American empire. And I think that if there's going to be any chance of the fires getting put out, it would be because of the quirky, strange nature of Donald Trump's approach to foreign policy.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah, I think that's really well said, Jeremy. As we continue to watch all this, we're gonna be relying heavily on drop sites. So thank you so much for joining us, man. We appreciate you.

[Jeremy Scahill]

Thank you, guys.

[Savannah Guthrie]

All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird shaped knives.

[Hoda Kotb]

And forks with the appropriate chees. And I plugged in the Bartesian.

[Jeremy Scahill]

Bartisian.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It's a home cocktail maker that makes.

[Hoda Kotb]

Over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites, too.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I Just got it for 50 off. So how about a Cosmopolitan or a mistletoe margarita?

[Jeremy Scahill]

I'm thirsty.

[Hoda Kotb]

Watch. I just pop in a capsule.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Choose my strength and wow, it's beginning.

[Hoda Kotb]

To feel more seasonal in here already. If your holiday party doesn't have a.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Barti. Because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off. Tis the season to be jollier.

[Hoda Kotb]

Add some holiday flavor to every celebration with the sleek, sophisticated home cocktail maker Bartisian. Pick up your phone and shake it to get $50 off any cocktail maker. Yes, you heard me. Shake your phone and get $50 off. Don't delay.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Hi everyone, it's Savannah Guthrie and Hoda.

[Hoda Kotb]

Kotb from the Today Show. We love this time of year.

[Savannah Guthrie]

There's so much to celebrate.

[Hoda Kotb]

That's right. Nobody does the holidays quite like today all season long. Join us for special performances with the brightest stars.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Plus festive recipes to whip up the perfect holiday feast and great deals on.

[Hoda Kotb]

The hottest toys and gifts for everyone on your list. So join us every morning on NBC to make TODAY your home for the holidays. It's better over here at&T customers switching to T Mobile has never been easier. We'll pay off your existing phone and give you a new one free. All on America's largest 5G network. Visit t mobile.com carrier freedom to switch today. Pay off up to $650 via virtual prepaid MasterCard in 15 days. Free phone up to $830 via 24 monthly bill credits plus tax qualifying port and trade in service on go 5G next. And credit request required. Contact us before canceling entire account to continue bill credits or credit stop and balance and required finance agreement is due.

[Savannah Guthrie]

So meanwhile, the manhunt continues for the killer of that CEO of United Health Care. Harry Enten over at CNN broke down some of the reasons why he has apparently been so difficult to find. Let's take a listen.

[Jeremy Scahill]

The number one thing that should stand.

[Hoda Kotb]

Out about Central park is it's just freaking huge. I mean, that's the number one thing that should stand out. It makes up 6% of Manhattan. There are eight lakes and ponds.

[Jeremy Scahill]

So you could potentially drop that backpack anywhere.

[Hoda Kotb]

There are 700 or more garbage cans as of 2021. Again, a lot of places that you might have to search in Central park.

[Savannah Guthrie]

If you're trying to find somebody or find a backpack.

[Hoda Kotb]

But more than that, it's really easy to blend in Central park and Escape there without people noticing. Why is that? Because get this, there are about 50 exits and entrances from Central Park. And more than that, there are about 40,000 winter weekday visitors. So you can get out of the park really easily and you can really.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Blend into the park quite easily.

[Hoda Kotb]

Erica. Harry. Police say the suspect also may have gotten out of the city by using the George Washington Bus Terminal. Yeah, so I have been to that bus terminal. It's actually fairly close to where I grew up.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And what you should know about it, it's really busy.

[Hoda Kotb]

On your average weekday, There are about 900 plus buses that come in and out of the terminal.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Dale.

[Hoda Kotb]

There are about 10,000 plus passengers who come either in or out of the terminal daily. And more than that, there are a ton of potential destinations from the George Washington Bus Terminal. Look at this map right here.

[Savannah Guthrie]

You can go all the way up.

[Hoda Kotb]

Look at this.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Go all the way up to Boston.

[Hoda Kotb]

You can go all the way down to Philadelphia, or you can go all the way to Western New York.

[Savannah Guthrie]

So what we know basically at this point is that we've all seen the footage, the security footage of the actual killing. And he hops on a bike, goes into Central park, emerges somewhere Upper west side, hops in a cab. We actually have an image of him in the cab that just came out, which, by the way, a bunch of these pictures that they're saying are, you know, person of interest, basically alleging as a suspect. They really do look like different people, but it's hard to tell because a lot of them are masked. You can see him here.

[Hoda Kotb]

So the quality of the camera is not very high.

[Savannah Guthrie]

So, yeah, with his mask. So this is the latest photo that has emerged. So anyway, gets in this cab, goes to the George Washington Bridge bus terminal. I mean, I haven't been to that particular bus terminal, but I've been to plenty of. I've been to the main New York City bus terminal. And the number of buses coming in and out of these things, the number of people, I mean, it's just, you know, it's constant. So he goes in, he doesn't come out. So the presumption is, of course, that he took a bus somewhere to make his getaway. And they've only just recently found he apparently ditched his backpack in Central park near the Merry Go Round. This is an image of that backpack. And based on what we know, it was apparently stuffed with his jacket and Monopoly money. So it seems like he fully intended.

[Hoda Kotb]

I mean, this guy is the Joker. It's not about. It's about sending a Message. Yeah, this is the Joker.

[Savannah Guthrie]

He intended them to find this backpack, and yet, by the way, still took the cops three days to find it in Central park, knowing that it was likely somewhere in there. So, I mean, that's effectively where we are right now. Now, Eric Adams, mayor of New York City, is claiming that they have a name. We could put this up on the screen. This was at some holiday party, I believe he made these comments. He says the net is tightening on the CEO's suspected killer. He says they have a name, but we don't want to release that now. If we do, we're basically giving a tip to the person we're seeking. We don't want to give him an upper hand at all. Let him continue to believe he can hide behind the mask. We revealed his face. We're going to reveal who he is, and we're going to bring him to justice. Personally, I don't really believe him. I don't know, maybe there's a strategic reason not to reveal the name, or maybe you don't want to get in legal trouble by implicating someone who you're not 100% sure that it is. But if you're out there saying, we know your name, then now the guy knows that you know his name. But I don't know. I'm a little skeptical. It seems like the more time goes on, like the trail has, as best as the public knows, effectively gone cold. And it is kind of wild, given this was, you know, early morning hours, but there were plenty of people out in New York City. It was in the most densely packed tourist area of New York City. Number of surveillance cameras all around are crazy. They even have drone surveillance.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Now in New York City. And this guy was just able to effectively vanish without a trace and was able to be in the city for some 10 days, but very careful about keeping his face hidden and keeping away from cameras, et cetera. So. So based on what the public knows, seems like very, very little that they are going on. New York City has 25,000 cameras at traffic intersections alone. And that drone surveillance initiative, which began.

[Hoda Kotb]

Over Central park, and $1 billion a year spent on a lot of this not to. I mean, look, this is a good view, by the way, into how much all of us are surveilled all the time. And the justification for it is that, oh, it's so easy to stop terrorists and it's easy to catch killers. Well, it's been more than 72 hours this man has been on the run. I mean, presumably even with the Feds involved and all that. We still don't have him being apprehended. His name has not been released or even leaked. That is one reason why I'm really skeptical. The NYPD is massive and, you know, it leaks like a sieve. And I've covered these terrorism cases and others for a long time. When they have a name, Tom Winters at NBC or whatever, he'll have it in like two seconds.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah. So even if they don't want to officially put it out.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah, Even when they don't want to put it out, it ends up leaking. This happens every time.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And there's also no in indication that they've alerted. Like, if you had a name, wouldn't you alert all the authorities at airports and at the border, et cetera, so that if that person shows up with their passport, you know what to do? But there's no indication that any of that.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah, and that actually raises even crazier questions, like, was he able to get out of the country? You know, was he able to.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I think it's very possible.

[Hoda Kotb]

I mean, you know, you could take a bus pretty easy to upstate New York. Canada's not that far away. So there's a lot of indications. And then from there, you know, who knows? You can get on a plate to any. You can go to Switzerland.

[Savannah Guthrie]

We'll be hanging out with Facade in Moscow right now. Peru.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah, Moscow. I think that's where I would head. I would head to Moscow. But, yeah, I mean, when you read all of this, it is both terrifying in terms of how much we are surveilled, and then it also opens the door of, like, well, what's the point of all this surveillance? I mean, look, maybe it's me. I think it's creepy that when you're in a cab, you're on camera. You know, I mean, I get it. You know, crime and people getting robbed and all of that, but it's weird. It's like every time you get into an Uber, it's like you don't even think about it. Just your face is being broadcast. Who knows what this person is gonna do to it. You're in a hostel, somebody's videoing there. You're on the street, you can track your location everywhere. This is an interesting. I saw a funny analysis. It just goes to show you that we're lucky that we live in a country where it's mostly low iq, people who commit crime. Because it turns out, if you wanna get away with it, I mean, to a certain extent, you kind of can. I personally Thought I said there's no way this guy's not in Cops. Just because. Because I had maybe too much faith in the surveillance state. I'm like, yo, in this country, he had that one photo with his face down that allegedly is him. Allegedly. Whatever. I think it's him.

[Savannah Guthrie]

You do?

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah. I mean, why else would you release it? I don't know.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It looks so different. He looks so different in the different photos that they released.

[Hoda Kotb]

That's what I mean. Look, maybe he's wearing different. He was there for 10 days wearing different outfits. I don't know. The point is, I thought if you've flown recently, actually, in some airports, you don't even have a choice. They just, you know, they take a photo of your face, and it's facial recognition. You don't even give them your ID anymore. You just stand in front of the camera and it's like, boom. I've boarded flights, particularly international flights, in the last couple of years. You don't have a boarding pass. You literally just go. And they hit your face with facial recognition, and they're like, oh, soccer and jetty, you know, 26e or something like that. So in my head, I'm like, okay, well, you just take that and you do facial recognition. You hit it across all of the different driver's license photos just in the United States or criminal database, whatever. And I thought you'd be apprehending the name. You know, I thought it would be out there within 24 hours. But I mean, I guess maybe, you know, either they do have that and they're not telling us, or, you know, even that photo is not enough. You would assume, too, that you would leave fingerprints somewhere in a hostel or wherever you are for 10 days on a backpack, DNA, et cetera. But I guess all of that will take some time. I mean, I still remain, like, pretty. I still remain pretty skeptical that you're genuinely going to walk free like a member of the Weather Underground or something, I don't know. And not get apprehended for 30 years. I mean, remember, they did get caught. You know, at the end of the day, all of them did get caught. It took a while, but I guess it could happen. You know, it could happen.

[Savannah Guthrie]

The other thing is that, you know, police really rely to a significant extent on public cooperation.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah, that's true.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And, you know, there has been some. But, like, the hostile that he stayed at that provided security camera footage and whatever, a lot of people are pissed off at them. It's like, what are they going to do?

[Hoda Kotb]

You're going to get a subpoena.

[Savannah Guthrie]

But I'm just saying. And there's all these communities on TikTok that are organized around helping to sleuth out different crimes and looking and trying to find the clues and whatever. And they're like, no, we're not helping with this one. So I'm sure that tip hotline they put out has been flooded with all kinds of nonsense and which if it's credible nonsense, you still gotta track it down. You still gotta chase it. And so that also makes it more difficult is to sort. Even if they got a legitimate tip that actually could help them, if it's also being flooded with a lot of people who are not interested in helping or interested in thwarting, that can also make it much, much more difficult. All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird shaped knives.

[Hoda Kotb]

And forks with the appropriate cheeses.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And I plugged in the partisan Partisan. It's a home cocktail maker that makes.

[Hoda Kotb]

Over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Lot of seasonal favorites, too. I just got it for 50 off. So how about a cosmopolitan or a mistletoe margarita?

[Jeremy Scahill]

I'm thirsty.

[Hoda Kotb]

Watch. I just pop in a capsule, choose.

[Savannah Guthrie]

My strength and wow, it's beginning to.

[Jeremy Scahill]

Feel more seasonal in here already.

[Hoda Kotb]

If your holiday party doesn't have a.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off. Tis the season to be jollier.

[Hoda Kotb]

Add some holiday flavor to every celebration with the sleek, sophisticated home cocktail maker Bartesian. Pick up your phone and shake it to get $50 off any cocktail maker. Yes, you heard me. Shake your phone and get $50 off. Don't delay. Hi, everyone. It's Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Copy from the Today show. We love this time of year.

[Savannah Guthrie]

There's so much to celebrate.

[Hoda Kotb]

That's right. Nobody does the holidays quite like today all season long. Join us for special performances with the brightest stars.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Plus festive recipes to whip up the perfect holiday feast.

[Hoda Kotb]

And great deals on the hottest toys and gifts for everyone on your list. So join us every morning on NBC to make today your home for the holidays. You spend a little hill at&t customers. Switching to T mobile has never been easier. We'll pay off your existing phone and.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Give you a new one free.

[Hoda Kotb]

All on America's largest 5G network. Visit t mobile.com CarrierFreedom to switch today Pay off up to $650 via virtual prepaid MasterCard in 15 days. Free phone up to $830 via 24 monthly bill credits plus tax, qualifying port and trade and service on go 5G next and credit required. Contact us before canceling entire account to continue bill credits. Your credit stop and balance and required finance agreement is due.

[Savannah Guthrie]

At the same time. Obviously, the cultural reaction has really continued. It has been pretty astonishing how widespread the reaction to this killing was. Bill Burr. Comedian Bill Burr took had had his own commentary describing the CEO as effectively a gangster. Let's take a listen to some of his. Take Paul.

[Hoda Kotb]

What's going on in New York? We were just talking about that CEO got fucking whacked. Oh my God, dude. You know what's funny? I was sitting there reading an article. Guy like, oh my God, he's such a great guy.

[Savannah Guthrie]

He had wife and kids and he's.

[Hoda Kotb]

Such a great guy. And then you find out he and the other guys he's working for are getting sued for $121 million for dumping a stock and not letting the other people know. It's like, there's your motives. Nancy Pelosi just made 9 million bucks on some shit. They're gangsters, dude. Fucking gangsters. And then one of them gets whacked or something like, oh, such a good guy. It's a dirty game, Paul. Health care, healthcare, dirty game.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It is dirty game.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yikes.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Very true. This was interesting too. So there's been a corporate reaction also. A bunch of health care companies and other Fortune 500 companies have been taking down their executive bio pages out of fear that their executives could be targeted. There's been a major upsurge in interest in executive protection. I'm sure that business is thriving today. And this was interesting. So in the wake of the killing of the CEO, people started sharing around the fact that Anthem Healthcare was planning this change. We could put this up on the screen, this tear sheet. They've been planning this change where they're going to put a time limit on anesthesia. And for most patients, if the anesthesiologist went over the time limit, if your surgery so you're knocked out, you have nothing to do with it. If your surgery goes over how long they think it should take, then they were going to mass deny those claims. So in the wake of this killing and more attention on the depravity of the United States healthcare system, this decision was something that people really picked up on. And Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield said, okay, never mind, we are not going to do this anymore. This plan was supposed to go into effect in several states. It wasn't a nationwide change. It was just in a number of states. And they've said, well, there was disinformation spread about what we were planning. So because of this disinformation, we're going to back off of this particular change. But listen, this is what health insurers do. The more care they deny, the more money they make. So they seek all kinds of ways to limit what they're gonna, you know, what claims they're gonna accept, what they're gonna pay out, because the more that they do that, the more that their profit margin increases. That's just the fundamental dynamic.

[Hoda Kotb]

I'm not going to white knight for the healthcare company, but I also want people to understand that this is part of why the American healthcare system is so crappy, is because the anesthetic there is actually decent evidence of anesthesiologists being. It's a very high paid field, I'll put it that way.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah.

[Hoda Kotb]

Their ability to control that. And then also what the government then reimburses them for, as well as the insurance companies. It helps, right? Turns out that most anesthesiologists are making like 300 grand a year. So the justification from the. And I'm sure I'm gonna get a ton of hate from the anesthesiologist. Sorry, folks, but the truth is, is that you guys are wildly overpaid. Not just anesthesiologists, all doctors. It's basically a cartel. And so the American Medical association has actively lobbied, you know, to restrict the number of doctors there, to artificially push up the price. That works in conjunction with our insane, you know, Blue Cross, Blue Shield anthem and all these other reimbursement. So you basically have a ton of. This is like a mob war between two cartels when, as you said, the patient is what is supposed to matter. The guy under the knife or the woman who is literally asleep should not be subject to is this doctor possibly keeping me under long enough so he can make more money or is it up to the insurance company? It should literally just be about all of the health. So again, I am not white knighting for the insurance company. That was the justification though, that they had seen that this was a systematic problem costing them money. But the whole insanity of it is that the same procedure in so many other different countries, there is no profit consideration in the entire operation. You just do whatever you have to do.

[Savannah Guthrie]

That is the core of the problem. And the issue, of course, with the approach they were taking is that it ends up being the patient once again. Again who gets screwed, you know, and who gets their claims. And now stuck while they were under the NYE had no say over any of this. This is all happening while they're literally knocked out. And now you're stuck with a multi thousand dollar bill because your claim has been denied because the surgery took longer than they expected. But you are 100% correct that the profit motive for all of these actors, whether it's the hospitals or the health insurers or the pharmaceutical companies or any of these different sort of mafia like cartels within our healthcare system that really is the root of the problem. I might do a monologue on the New York Times had a good piece about these methadone clinics. And I mean it's the same thing. It's another part of our healthcare system. And the same profit motives are applied there where they're supposed to be giving counseling. They're by and large not, they're falsifying records, they're giving methadone to people who should not be eligible to get methadone, who don't have, who may have a meth addiction or a non opioid addiction. But you know, this is really meant for people who are suffering with opioid addiction. But it's just like a microcosm of the way that these disgusting profit motives should not be at the core of our healthcare. And it leads to patients getting gouged and people getting sick and us having a disastrous life expectancy. I mean this really is kind of the root of the problem. So in any case, the, the thing that was significant here with this particular decision was just how quickly they backed off of it. Given the climate, given the scrutiny right now of the health insurance industry and how, you know, how overwhelming the reaction was to the killing of the CEO. Meanwhile, so United Health Group, the Brian Thompson who is the CEO who was murdered, he was in charge of the insurance portion. There is a broader UnitedHealth group whose CEO put out a series of videos for their internal. You could imagine if you're an employee of this health insurance company, like what the hell is going on right now? So anyway, Ken Klippenstein was leaked this video of the United CEO's reaction and his presentation to internally to employees where he's specifically here giving them some advice about how to handle media inquiries. And the tldr is he's just avoid the media altogether. Let's take a listen to how that went.

[Hoda Kotb]

I'd like to give you A little bit of advice around the media. You've seen a lot of media interest in this situation with a huge amount of misinformation and frankly, offensive communication. My strong advice and request to everybody is just don't engage with the media. If you're approached, I would recommend not responding and if necessary, simply refer them to our own media organization. There's no value in engaging with the media and as you've seen, people are writing things we simply don't recognize are aggressive, inappropriate and disrespectful. We've created a management structure to navigate through the period that we're in and that will focus on making sure that we continue to communicate within the organization, just like I am now.

[Savannah Guthrie]

So, you know, don't talk to the media, don't communicate with them, etc. Ken has gotten some leaks from employees at UnitedHealthcare about how they're processing all of this as well and obviously was leaked this particular communication. But you know, it must be pretty shocking, Sagar, if you are especially an executive at one of these companies, to really sit with this reaction. It must be really quite a shocking thing to behold.

[Hoda Kotb]

Maybe. But also remember what his wife said. He's like, well, there were some threats over denied coverage. I mean, you and I don't see this, but imagine being on their side. You probably get heartfelt emails and threats and stuff all the time. I mean, I know peripheral people in the healthcare industry, nurses, doctors, et cetera, they rant about the insurance companies. Oh, absolutely, non stop, absolutely. But then imagine me and they kick up their complaints to their hospital administrators, who I'm assuming if they're not in collaboration, which they sometimes are, kicking some of that up to the insurance companies. I don't know, I mean, if anything, again, like I just explained with the doctors, this thing is so screwed up that it's like, so it's so multifaceted. It's the insurance companies, it's the PBMs, it's the drug companies, it's the doctors, it's the hospitals. And you know, everyone wants to believe their sweet old doctor is in their camp and they probably are. But remember, they work for somebody too. You know, a lot of these hospital companies, we covered a lot of this. Remember during COVID a lot of them were going bankrupt. Well, guess what happened? They all got rolled up into private equity. And now all those people work for a single conglomerate.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Apparently Stoller's been tracking a bunch of the anesthesiologists to go back to that have been part of these PE private equity roll ups as well. Which means, you know, and those are, you know, this is permanent capital has huge interest in just gouging get everything they possibly can out of these financial arrangements. And you know, it shouldn't be a financial arrangement like other people in different countries where they have single payer healthcare. I'm not saying it's perfect. I know there are things they complain about and wish were different as well, but they look at our system and they're like, this is absolutely insane. Like if you're sick you just go to the doctor and you get the care that you need. And so yeah, when you put a profit motive at the center of this, it becomes grotesque and what you get out of it is profit for a lot of like effectively leeches and people, patients who suffer. The same recorded message from that United CEO, his name is Andrew Whitty. He also spoke to, you know, he was trying to pump up the reputation of UnitedHealthcare, which we had showed you before. Of all the health insurers, they actually have the highest claims denial rate. They're being sued for using this algorithm which according to the lawsuit has a 90% error rate. So again, they're innovating in ways to use technology to also deny claims that patients need to be filled so that they can get the care that they need. So in any case, here is the CEO trying to pump up their reputation and talk about what a great actor they are in the space. Let's take a listen.

[Hoda Kotb]

That I'm sure everybody has been disturbed by the amount of negative and in many cases vitriolic media and commentary that has been produced over the last few days, particularly in the social media environment. And I want to reassure you of a few things. Firstly, we are going to continue to make sure that we put patients, consumers and members first, as we always have done. The mission of this company is truly to make sure that we help the system improve by helping the experience for individuals get better and better. There was nobody who did more to try and advance that mission than Brian Thompson. And there are very few people in the history of the US healthcare industry who had a bigger positive effect on American healthcare than Brian. And we are going to make sure that we not only acknowledge and honour that legacy of Brian, but will continue it. Our role is a critical role and we make sure that care is safe, appropriate and is delivered when people need it. And we guard against the pressures that exist for unsafe care or for unnecessary care to be delivered in a way which makes the whole system too complex and ultimately Unsustainable.

[Savannah Guthrie]

So kind of an interesting way of phrasing things there. He says we guard against unnecessary care. And listen to your point, Sagar. I'm sure there are instances where, you know, doctors are incentivized to send you for a bunch of tests that you don't necessarily need or even a procedure that you don't. Oh, well, you can ask Senator Rick Scott about that one, but that's their sort of industry cope is that they are these guardians against you getting quote unquote unnecessary care. But what he doesn't say is also swept up in this very generous mission is also a lot of actually necessary care that is is also denied as much as they possibly can in order to boost their own well care denial.

[Hoda Kotb]

And then also artificial price increase. Insulin is the best example. We talk about it here. About what? The exact same dose. But insulin is the easiest one to understand because a ton of people need it and the price here is insane compared to the rest of the world. But it's the same for everything. Dialysis, congestive heart failure. Something like 40% of the entire federal budget is like not federal budget, Medicare spending, I think is literally just dialysis and congestive heart failure, which are obesity. Shocking, right? And it's like, oh, well, it's interesting how there are certain things where obesity prints hundreds of billions of dollars a year for a lot of these places. And it's like, oh, it's very convenient to keep the price up on dialysis and on a few of these other drugs just to make sure that you're printing. It's just sick.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Well, there's no incentive for people to be well.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah, exactly.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Healthy people are not particularly profitable, you know, if they don't have to seek care in these repeated treatments that they can price gouge you on the other thing that somebody made this point online, which I thought was an interesting one. They were like, there's a reason why these healthcare CEOs are not household names, why they try to keep a low profile unlike a lot of other famous celebrity CEOs, including the heads of Wall street banks, the Jamie Dimons of the world, et cetera, et cetera. And it speaks to what you were saying, Sagara, that on some level they do know that they are hated. They do know the villainous place that they occupy, making millions of dollars a year profiting off of people's like illness, pain, bankruptcy and death. So maybe you're right. Maybe those executives aren't totally shocked that this would be the mass public reaction. I mean, I Have to say, even I was surprised at, like, how widespread the reaction was and how significant it was. And, you know, I knew the amount of pain in the health insurance system and the healthcare system in general, but this outpouring was quite something to see. But maybe on some level they did understand what they are.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah, I think there is. I mean, look, with this guy, too, it's clear, like, he is the Joker. I think he. At a certain point, he's. What, he's scrawling things on bullets. Bullets, Monopoly money. Like he knew. I mean, maybe he was personally. In fact, he could also literally just be some. Some mercenary believer. Again, I'm not justifying any of this stuff, but it's clear that there was something happening within all of this. And if he does get caught, his trial, I think I said it before, that is gonna be the media event of the century in terms of his own defense and what that would look like. You could see that becoming a absolutely cultural sensation. Trial.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Oh, my God, it would be insane.

[Hoda Kotb]

It will be insane if they catch him completely.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And you only need one juror to be like, I'm not right.

[Hoda Kotb]

I saw Ryan say that. He's like, if I were him, I would just turn myself in, just, like, put myself on trial by jury. I mean, I don't know. At the same time, like, you even see people who are like, parents of, you know, parents of, like, rape victims will still get convicted whenever they act. I mean, the jury instructions are very narrow. It's like, did you commit the crime or not? It's not really up to, like, whether it was justified.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Well, I mean, jury nullification is. So, I mean, you definitely have the power on your answer. Like, nope, I'm not going along with this. But if I do think Ryan's point, if he is, if he's truly what she seems like, committed to the cause, that would be the next way forward. Especially if he isn't just like, you know, a vigilante out to avenge others, but has his own personal story of pain, suffering, you know, debt, bankruptcy, whatever it is. Then, yeah, you're right. It would be. It would be something crazy. It would be something.

[Hoda Kotb]

Let's get to milk.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yes, indeed. All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird shaped knives.

[Hoda Kotb]

And forks with the appropriate cheeses. And I plugged in the Partisan.

[Jeremy Scahill]

Partisan.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It's a home cocktail maker that makes.

[Hoda Kotb]

Over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Lot of seasonal favorites, too. I just got it for 50 off. So how about a Cosmopolitan or a mistletoe margarita?

[Jeremy Scahill]

I'm thirsty.

[Hoda Kotb]

Watch. I just pop in a capsule.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Choose my strength and wow, it's beginning.

[Hoda Kotb]

To feel more seasonal in here already. If your holiday party doesn't have a.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian, because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off. Tis the season to be jollier.

[Hoda Kotb]

Add some holiday flavor to every celebration with the sleek, sophisticated home cocktail maker Bartisian. Pick up your phone and shake it to get $50 off any cocktail maker. Yes, you heard me. Shake your phone and get $50 off. Don't delay. Hi, everyone. It's Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Copy from the Today Show. We love this time of year.

[Savannah Guthrie]

There's so much to celebrate.

[Hoda Kotb]

That's right. Nobody does the holidays quite like today all season long. Join us for special performances with the brightest stars, plus festive recipes to whip.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Up the perfect holiday feast.

[Hoda Kotb]

And great deals on the hottest toys and gifts for everyone on your list. So join us every morning on NBC to make TODAY your home for the holidays. It's better over here at&T customers switching to T Mobile has never been easier. Easier. We'll pay off your existing phone and give you a new one free. All on America's largest 5G network. Visit t mobile.com carrierfreedom to switch today. Pay off up to 650 via virtual prepaid MasterCard in 15 days. Free phone up to 830 via 24 monthly bill credits plus tax qualifying port and trade and service on go 5G next. And credit required. Contact us before canceling entire account to continue bill credits or credit stop and balance and required finance agreement is due.

[Savannah Guthrie]

So there is a bird flu situation unfolding amidst our nation's dairy cow herds and a new development that is quite significant. So this story is important for a number of reasons. We can put this up on the screen, but the U.S. department of Agriculture just ordered testing across the nation's milk supply. Effectively, what has happened here and part of why this is so important is we've known for a while now that bird flu had jumped to these dairy cow herds. Birds started apparently in Texas. There was a push among a lot of experts at that point to, you know, quarantine and make sure these cows were not being shipped across state lines. But the USDA and especially the current head of the USDA under Biden Vilsack, he's very close. He used to be a lobbyist for the dairy industry. So there was a priority put on continuing dairy industry profits at the time. And also there were a lot of fears of talking about a new pandemic, which is a real, you know, present rate risk with the possibility of this bird flu mutating enough so that it can infect humans and travel through human to human contact. So nobody wanted to talk about another pandemic. Nobody wanted to disrupt the dairy industry profits. So they delayed and they delayed and they delayed. Now there is a massive spread of this flu, especially throughout the west Coast. So let me just read you a little bit about this. So they say this flu virus has been raising alarms since it was detected in a Texas cow back in March. Since then, the virus has spread to over 710 dairy herds that we know of across 15 states. California has the highest number of infections. You also have a number of people, 58, who have been infected with bird flu. Now, the overwhelming majority of those, it's because they've come in direct contact with these animals or with the milk. The new federal order is going to allow regulators to test the bulk milk pools before they're pasteurized so they can get a better sense of which herds are infected and move to quarantine and try to get this thing under control. The program's launching first in California, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon and Pennsylvania. Those are the states that have apparently been most impacted. They say the risks are not entirely clear, but scientists do say it's possible consuming infected milk could lead to an infection. But pasteurized mil remains safe to drink. That's with regards to raw milk. There was a raw milk batch that tested positive for bird flu, which was recalled. And the bird flu virus stays in much larger and more significant quantities in the raw milk. There are no known cases that have been transmitted that way, but they're concerned that it could be possible. So that was the reason for issuing that mass recommended. We could put this next piece up on the screen. This is about the risk of a potential pandemic. This is Zeynep Tufeki writing in the New York Times before this order was issued, which she has said has come basically a year or too late. They should have been doing this a lot earlier. It would be a lot easier, a lot less onerous to stop the spread at this point among our nation's dairy cows. In any case, she says that this avian flu, having mutated its way across species, is already raging out of control. It's infected roughly a third of the dairy herds in California alone. Farmworkers have so far avoided tragedy as the virus has not yet acquired the genetic tools to spread among humans. But seasonal flu will vastly increase the chances of that outcome as the colder weather drives us all indoors to our poorly ventilated houses and workplaces will be undertaking an extraordinary gamble that the nation is in no way prepared for. Some of the things that have been very concerning is there's an infected child in California who is not known to have come into contact with any sick animals at all. So there is a possibility that the virus is already spreading from human to human since this child was not in contact with any sick animal. And then the last piece here, Sagan, I'll get your reaction is we can put this up on the screen. So this is the raw milk brand that was recalled because bird flu was found in it. He might be picked for an FDA role. They've asked him to apply as a, quote, raw milk advisor. He says that this recall is political. But, you know, I'm convinced that the risks here of bird flu spreading significantly and mutating into a form where it could be passed and transmitted human to human is a significant enough risk that, you know, taking these precautions, honestly, they should have been taken quite a while before so that they could have, you know, avoided this dangerous moment that we're in now.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah, I mean, so based on. Upon my reading and my general perusal, there is a lot of skepticism, I would say, within the raw milk community and in terms of the anti Covidians who are very skeptical of this. They think that it's planned or whatever. I don't know enough to be honest. And this is part of the issue with the fallout from COVID is like, anytime somebody's warning me about a pandemic, I'm like, we'll see. Let's see how it works out first and especially. Okay, so it's no human to human transmission mission, Right. So far. What is it? It's like four dairy cows, 10 from poultry.

[Savannah Guthrie]

No, no, no, no, no. There's like 710 herds. A third of the herds in California have been infected.

[Hoda Kotb]

Oh, I apologize. This is old. This is from August 9th. I thought it was from December 9th, which is the day that we're talking about. That's right. 726 herds. Here it is, 720 herds. 15 different states. No one has yet been known to become ill from drinking raw milk. The virus has now been detected in these herds. Yeah, but now in terms of the quote, unquote, jump, the human to human transmission, the possible cases here with a child that's correct.

[Savannah Guthrie]

That's right. Yeah. And so the worry is, you know, there's no proof or evidence that that child. It was a human to human transmission, but the child was not known to have come in contact with a sick animal. So that's where the concern raises. And there was also a pig that was infected, apparently, because pigs are similar to humans, it's like less of a jump, et cetera. So I think the real story here is actually the opposite. Opposite. They should have taken a lot more precautions more quickly, just in terms of doing the testing that they're doing now. There was a decision that was made a while back. These cows are shipped across state lines all the time to be milked or be bred or whatever, or be slaughtered. And there was a decision that was made quite a while ago after they knew that there was. This was spreading. This bird flu was spreading in dairy cows, which, again, again, it's a bird flu. So already it's made the leap into infecting cows and spreading wildly among cows. There was a decision that was made to say, you can still ship these cows across state lines, and that is what fueled this broader spread. And, of course, the more spread you have, the more potential combinations. So because the USDA was too tied and too close to the dairy industry, they didn't take some of the things that could have just nipped this in the bud early on. So in any case, it's something to watch. I agree with your general point that God forbid we have another actual pandemic, because people are not gonna believe anything, because many of the past mistakes that were made, and also the way it just became this. It became this mass cultural divide. So right now, they're just basically hoping that the genetic recombination doesn't happen. That allows it to significantly spread amongst humans, and it doesn't appear that that's happened yet. Although the sick child is a reason for concern. But, yeah, there's. We are in no way prepared to deal with another pandemic, either from a cultural or from a medical perspective.

[Hoda Kotb]

No, absolutely not. Zero. There's zero trial. I mean, even, like, my default position was like, yeah, maybe. You know, we'll see. I mean, that's the thing. I hate to say it, but based upon Covid and all these other things, I want people to think out there, what's a mental exercise? How many people. How many people would have to be proven sick for you to put on a mask? Again, for me, the number's high. Very high. For me to be flying 16 hours on a plane with a mask again and getting tut tutted or whatever, walking around outside, like, we'll have to see.

[Savannah Guthrie]

You know, the mask, whatever. I don't really. It's not about a big deal.

[Hoda Kotb]

It's about being told what to do.

[Savannah Guthrie]

The part that would. The part that I would be very, very, very. I, I think I would just resist is the shutting down of the schools.

[Hoda Kotb]

Oh, shutting down.

[Savannah Guthrie]

That was, to me, you know, obviously, in retrospect, Retrospect, that was the wrong call and was, you know, really damaging to kids in terms of their learning outcomes. And especially with COVID which we knew pretty quickly was not really infecting kids, or it was infecting kids, but it wasn't making them, you know, sick to the point of death in almost all cases. So, you know, obviously contours of a different disease, you have to evaluate what that looks like. But that's the one where I would be very, very reluctant.

[Hoda Kotb]

Fun fact, my SAT was actually canceled. I remember I was panicked out because of H1N1, which. So is this different? This is H5N1.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah.

[Hoda Kotb]

H1N1 was also bird flu, if I recall or. No, that was swine flu. That's what it was, swine flu. But I mean, this was like 2000 Obama or whatever.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Obama era.

[Hoda Kotb]

That was.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah, H5N1. Avian flu.

[Hoda Kotb]

Okay. So, yeah, H5N1 has hit Asia before. I'm not sure we've ever had a full blown bird flu outbreak here.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I think it's correct that this is the first time that we've seen it spread to cows is one of the things that I read. So in any case, I just wanted to highlight it as something that is out there, that is a question mark for the future and could not have really any impact on all of our lives and could have a dramatic impact.

[Hoda Kotb]

On all our lives. Well, because then also think about all of the chaos, you know, first six months of an administrative. I mean, that's what the conspiracy theorists say. They're like pandemic, just right on time to destroy Trump's president.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Well, this has been. But this has been spreading for a while.

[Hoda Kotb]

I'm not saying I agree with that, but even if it's not a plandemic or whatever, it still could be a political catastrophe.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Oh, I'm sorry.

[Hoda Kotb]

In terms of what and how people would. Again, my default on this is prove it. You need to prove that it's going to be beyond a shadow of a doubt if you want me to change my life. 5%. Because as we Learned last time. It's like, well, you start to give up a lot based upon a lot of shoddy information, and those things start to get. It takes years to get pulled back and there's no recrimination. And now Fauci may get a pardon or whatever. I'm like, look, hold on a second here. Like, you know, prove it. I don't necessarily disagree with what you said about Vil Slack and the agricultural.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I was gonna say, I think the real conspiracy. That's the real conspiracy is the open one of, like, we'd rather just keep the profits flowing and ignore this and do what the dairy producers want than to nip it in the bud. And if it does, if it does develop into something that can spread human to human and becomes a significant impact. Impact. Even if it's relatively mild, it just means more people getting sick. When you have vulnerable people, some percentage of them will become sick enough to have their health threatened. In fact, there's already a Canadian who is really quite ill in serious critical condition from this. So in any case, even if it's just at that level, the decisions to point back to will be the ones made under the Biden administration to just let her rip rather than nipping it in the bud early on before there was any real risk. So to me, that's the out in the open conspiracy is around the profit, Big Ag, and the profit margins and incentives there.

[Hoda Kotb]

Sure. Definitely. Remember, you have something in common with the raw milk people. They hate Big Ag. Oh, I hate. As much as everybody else.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Hoda Kotb]

They blame them for keeping them down.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Can I just say a long time. Let me just state my position. I think milk in general is disgusting.

[Hoda Kotb]

I don't drink milk.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I think milk is like. I think it's gross. I think it tastes gross. I think thinking about where it comes from is gross. Like, I'm just not a milk person in general. So then the idea of we're gonna make it even more, like, close to just, like, coming out of the cow's udder.

[Hoda Kotb]

No, but that's more. That's how you should drink it. So, see, I would flip it around on you.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I don't want any of it.

[Hoda Kotb]

I think it's gross to, like, go to the grocery store and look at the additives for all this, like DHA, Omega 3, blah, blah, blah, all this other stuff in milk. I'm like, is it milk? Like, what? What is that? Like, how does that even get to where we are now? I mean, look, I get it. It's hypocritical. I'm sure. I eat a lot of other things with a lot of different additives, but like milk in particular. Whereas if it comes straight out of a cow, I'd be way more likely to drink it.

[Savannah Guthrie]

See, that's.

[Hoda Kotb]

I've had it straight from the goat.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It's a fallacy to think that just because it's like, quote, more natural that it's better for you.

[Hoda Kotb]

I think so.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I mean, people don't drink milk. I think it's a reasonable risk to take. It's probably less risky than eating raw oysters or stuff.

[Hoda Kotb]

Definitely.

[Savannah Guthrie]

If I had to guess, it's probably less risky than that. And to your point, there is no proof that even drinking H5N1 infected raw.

[Hoda Kotb]

Milk, you're gonna get sick.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Gives you. Yeah. Will get you sick. Now it's a risk. They're worried that it could, but there is no proof that it does at this point. There are no documented cases of that. So to your point. But yeah, I am just not really a milk person.

[Hoda Kotb]

Let me put in a word for goat milk. I actually think goat milk is good. I've had some raw goat milk and I've like strayed out of the goat. It was good, man, it was tasty.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I love dairy products.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah.

[Savannah Guthrie]

But the actual. Just milk of any kind.

[Hoda Kotb]

I've had milk straight from the cow. I mean, it was not bad. It's interesting too, because it doesn't come out cold, which is a crazy thing to say, but most people are like, used to drink cold milk from a fridge. But when you drink milk from an animal, it's warm, actually. Anyway, I like goat milk. I like goat cheese. I actually prefer more goat based products than I do cow milk. But that's a whole other stuff.

[Savannah Guthrie]

The other thing, the other. This is just random, but the other. Another common American food product I find revolting is ketchup.

[Hoda Kotb]

Ketchup.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I hate ketchup.

[Hoda Kotb]

It depends.

[Savannah Guthrie]

My kids ruined ketchup for me. I don't like ketchup. The amount that they wanted to eat when they were little and like dip their apples in it and stuff was like, oh, I can't.

[Hoda Kotb]

I recommend leaving the United States and then trying ketchup. Because what you understand is that our ketchup is basically sugar water. Like sugar and tomato. Where when you eat ketchup, like in India or any of these other places.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I've had that Indian ketchup.

[Hoda Kotb]

It's good, it's spicy, and you know, it has no sugar, which turns out it's like everything in our country. Has sugar, but that's a whole other story. In fact, though, people in Asia, though, they go to McDonald's or other places just to be able to eat Heinz sugar, ketchup, American ketchup, because they think it tastes way better. And I'm like, you have no idea.

[Savannah Guthrie]

See, when I was in India, it was before I developed my ketchup revulsion. And I definitely wanted the Heinz ketchup, not the Indian ketchup.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah, well, I mean, that's the point.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It's Palpatine.

[Hoda Kotb]

It's our hyper palate, you know, hyper palatable sugar and all this other crap. So anyway, live more like an Asian and you'll be better off.

[Savannah Guthrie]

All right, we're all set for the party.

[Hoda Kotb]

I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And paired all those weird shaped knives.

[Hoda Kotb]

And forks with the appropriate cheeses. And I plugged in the part.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It's a home cocktail maker that makes.

[Hoda Kotb]

Over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Lot of seasonal favorites, too. I just got it for 50 off, so how about a Cosmopolitan or a mistletoe margarita?

[Jeremy Scahill]

I'm thirsty.

[Hoda Kotb]

Watch. I just pop in a capsule, choose my strength and wow, it's beginning to.

[Jeremy Scahill]

Feel more seasonal in here already.

[Hoda Kotb]

If your holiday party doesn't have a.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian, because Bartel Artesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off. Tis the season to be jollier.

[Hoda Kotb]

Add some holiday flavor to every celebration with the sleek, sophisticated home cocktail maker Bartisian. Pick up your phone and shake it to get $50 off any cocktail maker. Yes, you heard me. Shake your phone and get $50 off. Don't delay.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Good sleep should come naturally, and with.

[Hoda Kotb]

A new natural hybrid mattress, it can.

[Savannah Guthrie]

A collaboration between Leesa and West Elm, the natural hybrid is expertly crafted from natural latex, natural wool and certified safe.

[Hoda Kotb]

Foams to elevate your sleep sanctuary and.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Support a greener tomorrow.

[Hoda Kotb]

Breathable organic cotton and moisture wicking jomo.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Wool consistently provide cool and comfortable slumber. Every purchase helps fuel leases.

[Hoda Kotb]

Work with shelters and those in need.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Visit Lisa.com to learn more.

[Hoda Kotb]

That's L E E S A.com there's joy to be had in finding the perfect gifts for the ones You Love, and Saks.com's holiday gift guide can make it easy.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Whether it's surprising your hard to shop.

[Hoda Kotb]

For sister with a Chloe bracelet bag or gifting your partner a memorable scent from Gucci that matches their personality Saks.com's handpicked guide can help take the stress out of the holidays, like adding instant cheer to your home with bright Dix decor or giving yourself some comfort by bundling up in a scarf coat from Tatem. Find gifts guaranteed to bring joy to everyone this [e-mail].