Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to USA Today's The Excerpt, Ad-Free right now.

Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app.

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson.

And today is Wednesday, December 18, 2024.

This is the excerpt.

Today, the latest surrounding the accused killer of Brian Thompson,

plus how Elon Musk has shaken things up in a part of South Texas, and black plastic utensils aren't as dangerous as a study suggested. The man accused of fatally shooting United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month

is facing upgraded murder charges in New York. Officials announced yesterday. Luigi Mangione was

charged with one count of first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism and two counts of

second-degree murder, including a count of murder in the second degree as an act of terrorism.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the crime in its most basic terms was a killing that was

intended to evoke terror. Prosecutors say Mangione arrived in New York City 10 days ahead of Thompson's

murder, but used a fake identification card and mask to avoid being recognized.

Elon Musk and SpaceX have changed a corner of Texas. For the better or worse, I called up USA Today

national correspondent Rick Jervis to discuss. Rick, thanks for wrapping on today.

Happy to be here.

Rick, let's start by talking a little about how and when Elon Musk and SpaceX came into the equation in this part of Texas.

And really, what does the company use the area for?

So this happened about a decade ago. Back in 2014 was when they first said that they were going to move here to

South Texas. They didn't physically move in here until starting around 2021. But it's this area east of Brownsville, Texas.

And Brownsville is way at the very bottom of South Texas. It's like the southernmost city in Texas. It sits right on the

border across from like Matamotos, Mexico. That's nothing but really tidal flats out there.

...