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Trump's surgeon general pick to face senators' questions at confirmation hearing

admin - Latest News - October 30, 2025
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President Donald Trump’s pick for surgeon general, Dr. Casey Means, may face tough questions Thursday as senators decide whether to support her confirmation.



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Oct. 24, 2025, 6:50 PM EDTBy Daniel Arkin, Chloe Atkins, Jonathan Dienst, Erik Ortiz and Rich SchapiroFederal prosecutors allege a Georgia man named John Mazzola — nickname “John South” — played on the “Cheating Team” in rigged poker games in Manhattan and Miami. The brazen, high-tech scheme was backed by the Mafia and raked in millions of dollars, according to an indictment unsealed this week.At least some of this came as news to Mazzola’s wife.“We don’t even own our own home. He drives a piece-of-crap truck. They can check every account,” Tasha Mazzola said in a phone interview Friday.“I can tell you, he doesn’t even know half of those people on the list,” she added, referring to the 30 other defendants charged in what investigators dubbed “Operation Royal Flush.” She said her husband hasn’t played poker in New York City “in years” after he was robbed of his shoes and other belongings at gunpoint during a game.The government’s 22-page indictment suggests there is more to the story. In prosecutors’ telling, Mazzola was part of a criminal plot to lure big-fish gamblers to ritzy tables surreptitiously outfitted with card-scanning devices, X-rays and other cheating equipment. Mazzola, 43, also allegedly participated in an armed robbery to steal a manipulated shuffling machine.He is charged with wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and robbery conspiracy. He appeared before a judge Thursday, and he was released with what authorities called a substantial bail package.The defendants’ backstories and their alleged criminal enterprise were starting to come into focus Friday, a day after federal officials announced two extraordinary investigations into the parallel worlds of illegal underground gambling and insider sports betting.The poker probe ensnared Chauncey Billups, head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, and a dozen associates of the “Five Families,” the Italian Mafia clans that have long ruled organized crime in the New York area.“The fraud is mind-boggling,” FBI Director Kash Patel told reporters at a news conference Thursday, referring to the alleged wrongdoing as a “criminal enterprise that envelops both the NBA and La Cosa Nostra.” At least one of the mobsters charged is an alleged captain in the Gambino crime family whose first felony conviction dates back to 1999.But some defendants appear to have been living in relative anonymity. Officials have released little information about Sophia Wei — nickname “Pookie” — the only woman charged in the poker ring case.In an interview on Friday, Wei’s former landlord in Queens, New York, said he formed a negative impression of her during the decade she lived in his building.“She was nasty. She was arrogant. She was a diva. She wouldn’t let me come upstairs if I needed to do a repair,” said Ashley Scharge, 66, who lives in Bayside. “Then she skipped out on me. She left my place in shambles, stuff all over the place — clothes, food.”Wei did not return requests for comment on Friday.In the indictment, federal prosecutors characterized Wei as a member of a “Cheating Team.” Billups was a “Face Card,” a high-profile person who the orchestrators believed could help draw in unsuspecting gamblers to fixed tables.Billups and Wei can be seen together in a photograph obtained by NBC News. The picture was taken in May 2019 during a game organized by Wei at a high-end hotel in New York City, where cocktail waitresses offered massages and beverages to the attendees as they played.Chauncey Billups and Sophia Wei, also known as “Pookie,” playing poker.Obtained by NBC NewsThe raft of court documents unsealed Thursday sketch out how the alleged cheating worked — and, in at least one case, when it came close to going off the rails.In the middle of a game in Las Vegas in 2019, Wei and other defendants realized Billups was winning too many improbable hands — thanks to the rigged shuffling machine. In text messages that were included in the government’s detention memorandum, Wei suggests that Billups attempt to avert suspicion by losing on purpose.In all, prosecutors say the scheme netted more than $7 million over six years.The FBI said it is still pursuing other leads.“It’s like anything. You peel back the onion, there’s more layers,” said Christopher Raia, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office. “This investigation is very much ongoing.”Daniel ArkinDaniel Arkin is a national reporter at NBC News.Chloe AtkinsChloe Atkins reports for the NBC News National Security and Law Unit, based in New York.Jonathan DienstJonathan Dienst is chief justice contributor for NBC News and chief investigative reporter for WNBC-TV in New York.Erik OrtizErik Ortiz is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital focusing on racial injustice and social inequality.Rich Schapiro Rich Schapiro is a reporter with the NBC News national security unit.Kate Reilly contributed.
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Sept. 25, 2025, 6:42 PM EDT / Updated Sept. 25, 2025, 7:30 PM EDTBy Matt LavietesThe parents of a girl who remains missing after the flooding that hit Texas this summer said they were “devastated” by Camp Mystic’s plans to reopen next year.Cile Steward was among the 27 campers and counselors killed in July’s catastrophic floods in Kerr County.“Our families remain trapped in the deepest throes of grief, yet your communications treat our never-ending nightmare as little more than a brief pause before resuming business as usual,” her parents, Cici and Will Steward, wrote in a letter Wednesday that was obtained by NBC News. In a letter to camp families Monday, Camp Mystic officials detailed plans to partially open next summer. It said the area of the camp along the Guadalupe River that was destroyed by the floodwaters will not reopen next year.“As we work to finalize plans, we will do so in a way that is mindful of those we have lost,” the letter said.The camp also said it will build a memorial to those killed in the flooding.“Our decision to partially reopen areas of the camp is informed by our faith and our commitment to continue the nearly century-long mission and ministry of Camp Mystic to provide a Christian camping experience for girls that allows them to grow physically, mentally and spiritually,” the camp said in a statement Thursday.A search and rescue volunteer holds a Camp Mystic shirt and backpack, in Comfort, Texas, on July 6. Danielle Villasana for The Washington Post via Getty Images fileIn their letter, the Stewards allege that the camp’s owners did not consult them before deciding to partially reopen.”Had you paused to reflect … you might have spared grieving families the additional anguish your decisions now cause,” they wrote. “Instead, your communications have only intensified our grief.”The camp said Thursday that it notified the parents about the memorial because they “wanted them to be informed” and “welcome their participation as the process develops.”Many of the parents who lost daughters have criticized the camp over its safety measures and preparedness and advocated for legislative change.”Cile must be recovered, and you must fully confront and account for your role in the events and failures that caused the deaths of our daughters,” the Stewards wrote. “Anything less dishonors the children who were killed while in your care — at a time when their safety was your primary responsibility.”This month, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed legislation to strengthen camp safety, prohibiting cabins from being in dangerous parts of flood zones and requiring camp operators to develop detailed evacuation plans, among other things.Camp Mystic’s letter to families said that its leaders are “working with engineers and other experts to determine how we will implement the changes required” under the newly passed bills.Matt LavietesMatt Lavietes is a reporter for NBC News.
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