Trump addresses idea that Musk is in charge and Cowboys defeat Bucs: Morning Rundown

Biden commutes dozens of death row sentences. Donald Trump reacts to people saying Elon Musk is in charge. And NBC News speaks to four families who were left in debt after joining health care sharing ministries.

Here’s what to know today.

Biden commute dozens of death row sentences to life without parole

President Joe Biden announced that he is commuting the death sentences of 37 inmates, leaving only three people on death row in federal prisons. The commuted sentences will be reclassified to life sentences without the possibility of parole, according to the White House.

“These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my Administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder,” Biden said in a statement. “Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss.”

One of the inmates whose sentences Biden will commute, Billie Allen, has maintained his innocence. Allen said he felt his hope was “cut off” when Donald Trump won the presidential election last month.

Around the time of Trump’s election, some of the correctional staff members taunted inmates at the prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, according to a death row inmate and two federal defenders. Execution rehearsals have also increased at the prison, where almost all federal death row inmates are incarcerated, in the lead-up to Trump’s inauguration, according to the same sources.

The three men who remain on federal death row are Robert Bowers, who killed 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018; Dylann Roof, who killed nine people in a shooting at a historically Black church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombers. In 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a moratorium on federal executions. No federal inmates have been executed during Biden’s presidency.

Read the full story here.

Trump addresses Elon Musk’s growing political influence: ‘He’s not going to be president’

President-elect Donald Trump dismissed any suggestion that he’s being usurped by his ally Elon Musk, after a week in which the tech billionaire helped derail an emergency spending measure to avert a government shutdown.

Musk, who owns the social media site X, posted more than 100 times about his objections to the original spending deal — a preview of how he may use his influence to shape policy in Trump’s second term. Mockingly, Democrats have taken to calling him “President Musk.” History shows that anyone who upstages Trump or diverts attention from him doesn’t last long in his orbit.

Trump spoke for more than an hour at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, in his first rally-style event since the election. Trump said the notion that he has “ceded the presidency” to Musk is untrue, and that even if Musk wanted the job, he couldn’t get it because of the Constitution’s requirement that the U.S. president be a natural-born citizen. Musk was born in South Africa.

Read the full story here.

More coverage:

Honda and Nissan announce plans to merge and create world’s third-largest automaker

Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda announced they had entered into official talks to merge and create the world’s third-largest automaker.

Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said the companies needed greater scale to compete in the development of new technologies in electric vehicles and intelligent driving. Mibe added that if approved, the integration would be a mid to long-term project that is currently not expected to show visible progress until 2030 and beyond.

Nissan’s strategic partner Mitsubishi has been offered the chance to join the new group and will take a decision by the end of January 2025. The deal would aim to share intelligence and resources and deliver economies of scale and synergies while protecting both brands, Mibe said.

NYPD arrests person of interest in woman’s fatal burning on subway

A man described as a person of interest was taken into custody in the search for a suspect who fatally set a woman sleeping in a subway car on fire, New York City police said.

New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference that a person was seen in the area just after the crime, sitting on a platform bench, and that an officer’s body camera captured clear imagery of him. Three people described as “high school-age” subway riders spotted the man and called 911, Tisch said. Officers boarded the train, found the man and took him into custody.

The woman, who was not publicly identified, was asleep on an idle F train at the Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn. It was there that a man approached her, lit her on fire and fled the train car. 

Highlights from NFL Week 16

The Dallas Cowboys entered “Sunday Night Football” with no chance of making the playoffs, but clearly nobody told them that as they defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26-24. While Dallas quarterback Cooper Rush threw for 292 yards and a touchdown, the team’s defense was the real story. NBC News sports editor Greg Rosenstein breaks down this week in NFL matchups: 

🤕 Despite being down 13 points at the start of the fourth quarter, the Washington Commanders came back and defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 36-33. Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels finished with five touchdowns, none more important than Jamison Crowder’s grab in the final seconds to secure victory. The Commanders improved to 10-5 this season, tied for the franchise’s most wins in a season since 1992. Philadelphia (12-3), previously on a 10-game winning streak, played most of the game without starting quarterback Jalen Hurts, who suffered a concussion late in the first quarter.

🏈Speaking of comebacks, the Buffalo Bills overcame a 14-point first-half deficit to beat the New England Patriots 24-21. Quarterback Josh Allen, an MVP candidate, had a lackluster game by his standards but running back James Cook stepped up with two touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving. The win prevented the Kansas City Chiefs from locking up the No. 1 seed in the AFC postseason.

🏃‍♂️Colts running back Jonathan Taylor was criticized last week for fumbling on the goal line (upsetting many fantasy football owners) but he bounced back with the best individual performance of the weekend. Taylor rushed for 218 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries in a 38-30 win against the Tennessee Titans.

Read All About It

Staff Pick: Uninsured while pregnant, she turned to a Christian cost-sharing group. Her family was left in debt.

Health care sharing ministries, a type of nonprofit medical cost-sharing organization, offer paying members reimbursement for some medical bills. The groups market themselves as a kind of faith-based alternative to health insurance and have grown substantially. But they are not subject to the same regulations, nor are they legally obligated to reimburse people. Many of the groups restrict members’ eligibility for childbirth coverage in particular, a challenge four families told NBC News they encountered as members. All warned others not to join.

This story grew out of reporting that health reporter Aria Bendix did for an earlier article about insured families who faced medical debt for complicated deliveries. Here, instead, she tells the story of uninsured families who, while pregnant, sought support outside the mainstream health care system but were disappointed by the outcomes.

— Dana Varinsky, science & health editor

NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified

The Oura Ring is a health tracker disguised as a metal ring. While it won’t replace your smartwatch, it does track your heart rate, exercise and sleep. Here’s what NBC Select’s tech editor liked and disliked after using the Oura Ring for four months.

Sign up to The Selection newsletter for hands-on product reviews, expert shopping tips and a look at the best deals and sales each week.

Thanks for reading the Morning Rundown. Today’s newsletter was curated for you by Elizabeth Both. 

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com