Transcript

California’s Fraud “Epicenter” & Guthrie Search Continues

From Morning Wire · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 17 min · 3,245 words · 50 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "California’s Fraud “Epicenter” & Guthrie Search Continues", an episode of Morning Wire published February 4, 2026 (17 min, about 3,245 words). It mentions 10 people, works and ideas, including Daily Wire (company), Nancy Guthrie, Dr. Meett Oz, Matthew Zahu, African Development Foundation.

What this episode is about

The Trump administration is intensifying its crackdown on alleged Medicare fraud linked to organized crime in California, raising questions about state officials' responses and the integrity of federal aid programs. Additionally, the search for Nancy Guthrie, feared to have been abducted from her Arizona home, continues with ongoing investigations into related criminal activities.

Key takeaways

  • California's Medicare fraud isn't just waste—it's a life-or-death scandal for seniors caught in scams.
  • The alleged Russian Armenian mafia isn't just for Hollywood films; it's now a player in healthcare fraud.
  • With one in ten home health care dollars in LA tied to fraud, it's a budget-breaking crime spree.
  • Hospice care in California: A growing number of services, but not one more patient needing them? Fishy indeed.
  • When the system meant to protect the vulnerable is exploited, who truly pays the price? Taxpayers and seniors.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 3:00: Daily Wire (company), Balance of Nature, Dr. Meett Oz, Los Angeles County
  2. – 6:00: Dr. Meett Oz
  3. – 9:00: Nancy Guthrie, Daily Wire (company), Savannah Guthrie, Tucson, Arizona
  4. – 12:00: Nancy Guthrie, Savannah Guthrie
  5. – 15:00: African Development Foundation, Daily Wire (company), Matthew Zahu
  6. – 17:08: Daily Wire (company), Matthew Zahu, African Development Foundation

Notable quotes from "California’s Fraud “Epicenter” & Guthrie Search Continues"

  • Whether you've been on the fence for a long time or it's the first time you're hearing about them, I truly recommend that you go to balanceofnature.com and order their whole…
    about Balance of Nature · at
  • Coordination in LA County specifically, essentially organized crime to pull off these scams on taxpayers. Oz has suggested that this is largely tied to the Russian Armenian…
    about Dr. Meett Oz · at
  • Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today Show host Savannah Guthrie, disappeared from her home in Tucson, Arizona over the weekend with investigators fearing the worst.
    about Nancy Guthrie · at
  • The CFO of a federal agency providing aid to Africa will plead guilty to taking bribes. Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Rosiaak revealed back in May that the African…
    about Daily Wire (company) · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Nancy Guthrie — Person · Primary subject of breaking-news segment (missing person) · 3 mentions · first at
    Her disappearance in Tucson drives the episode’s second major news block, including law-enforcement updates and a public plea from her daughter Savannah Guthrie.
  • Dr. Meett Oz — Person · Referenced government official / interview clip subject · 3 mentions · first at
    As CMS administrator, he alleges large-scale Medicare/Medicaid fraud in Los Angeles County and issues a corrective action plan to Gov. Gavin Newsom, prompting political and legal pushback.
  • Matthew Zahu — Person · Primary subject of investigative-news segment (criminal case) · 2 mentions · first at
    Identified as the CFO of the African Development Foundation who will plead guilty to bribery-related conduct described in a prior Daily Wire investigation.
    Announced that Matthew Zahu would plead guilty to one of the actions laid out in Luke's story, admitting to accepting bribes and lying to law enforcement.
  • Savannah Guthrie — Person · Referenced public figure (family member; public appeal) · 2 mentions · first at
    Mentioned as the Today Show host and daughter of Nancy Guthrie; her Instagram plea is cited as part of the public response to the disappearance.
    Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today Show host Savannah Guthrie, disappeared from her home in Tucson, Arizona over the weekend with investigators fearing the worst.

Companies & orgs

  • Daily Wire (company) — Company · Business focus · 6 mentions · first at
    The company producing the podcast and conducting investigations.
  • African Development Foundation — Company · Case study · 3 mentions · first at
    Discussed in the context of fraud and bribery allegations.
    The CFO of a federal agency providing aid to Africa will plead guilty to taking bribes. Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Rosiaak revealed back in May that the African…

Places & events

  • Los Angeles County — Place · Setting · 1 mention · first at
    Described as an epicenter for healthcare fraud.
    CMS administrator Dr. Meett Oz says Los Angeles County has become an epicenter for healthc care fraud, sparking a battle with California Governor Gavin Newsome. Here with the details is Daily.
  • Tucson, Arizona — Place · Setting · 1 mention · first at
    Location where Nancy Guthrie was abducted.
    Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today Show host Savannah Guthrie, disappeared from her home in Tucson, Arizona over the weekend with investigators fearing the worst.

Sponsors

  • Balance of Nature — Product · Sponsor · 2 mentions · first at
    Promoted as a health supplement providing phytonutrients from fruits and vegetables.
  • Zocdoc — Product · Sponsor · 4 mentions
    Promoted as a service to find and book doctors quickly.

Full transcript with timestamps

The Trump administration is cracking down on California, tying billions in alleged Medicare fraud to crime networks in the state.

What we've really witnessed is a weaponization of this criminal effort uh that has been tolerated. And the key question we should all be asking ourselves is why?

How are state officials reacting? I'm Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley with Georgia How. It's Wednesday, February 4th. This is Morning Wire.

The frantic search for Nancy Guthrie continues amid fears she was abducted from her Arizona home.

We do believe that Nancy was taken from her home against her will and that's where we're at.

And a Daily Wire investigation leads to a guilty plea on bribery charges and calls to shut down a federal aid agency

because as he put it, it's trash. And as he put it, it's a corrupt culture of waste, fraud, and abuse.

Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.

Let's be honest, most of us have no idea what phytonutrients actually are. And that's exactly why our sponsor, Balance of Nature, makes getting them into your diet so simple. So, here's the thing about phytonutrients. They're these naturally occurring plant nutrients and whole foods that actually give fruits and vegetables their color, taste, and smell.

Now, what Balance of Nature does is they take all that produce, run it through their specialized vacuum cold process that keeps everything stable. Then they powder it down without any binders, fillers, or flow agents. Just the real stuff. Their whole health system is essentially a value bundle that combines their fruit and veggie capsules with their fiber and spice supplements. So, you're getting 47 different ingredients, fruits, vegetables, spices, and fibers along with those naturally occurring phytonutrients every single day. I really like the convenience that Balance of Nature offers. I can take my tablets with me on the go. I've even got some bottles loaded up in my work backpack for easy access. Plus, I feel great when I take them. So, whether you've been on the fence for a long time or it's the first time you're hearing about them, I truly recommend that you go to balanceofnature.com and

order their whole health system supplements as a preferred customer today. That's balanceof.com.

CMS administrator Dr. Meett Oz says Los Angeles County has become an epicenter for healthc care fraud, sparking a battle with California Governor Gavin Newsome. Here with the details is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presa Jacamo. Morning Amanda. So let's start with these allegations of fraud. Billions of dollars we're talking about here. What is going on in California?

So Oz says they've identified billions of dollars in Medicare and Medicaid fraud in California. And this is largely tied to claims of hospice and home care fraud. Basically scammers are signing up people for hospice care when it's unnecessary or they don't actually provide it. When it comes to home care scams, fraudsters are billing the government for services like grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning when these aren't being provided. In California, the government will actually foot the bill for these types of services uh for the elderly or the needy and uh says that this is being exploited by fraudsters in a very big way in the state. Now, as we recently saw with the multi-billion dollar fraud schemes in Minnesota, there appears to be a lot of coordination in LA County specifically, essentially organized crime to pull off these scams on taxpayers. Oz has suggested that this is largely tied to

the Russian Armenian mafia. We were able to speak to Dr. Oz yesterday. Here's how he described the fraud in LA and in California more generally.

Give you a number. It's going to it's going to chill you. We have about one in10 dollars spent in America in home health care just in Los Angeles. So other home health care systems around the country, they're all suffering because the money gets pulled. So we began to notice, this is before I came into this to the administration, uh but that there was an increase about a seven-fold increase in the available hospice uh in California. That doesn't make any sense. You don't have seven times more people dying. What's going on? Then you begin to look at the individual hospices and again it's for end of life. So not everyone should survive. 100% survival rate in these hospices.

Now Oz has previously suggested that there's potentially tens of billions of dollars in fraud statewide. Now obviously that would be theft and a huge burden on taxpayers, but Oz has really emphasized that this is extremely harmful to seniors in California. Seniors are being used by scammers. They're being signed up for services that they're not actually receiving. And then when they really do need care, they're not getting it at all or it's being significantly delayed.

I met uh many patients. Uh one woman, which I just can't forget, get her out of my mind. Had a brother that she loved dearly and he'd had some health problems, but he was fine. He was living by himself. He he was approached by a young woman who said, "Hey, listen. You know, I got some things I can bring you to help you out. Um if you want to just sign this document." He signs a document. What the document said was that you're giving up all your health care to go into hospice. Which is, by the way, that's the deal, right? If you're going to pass away anyway within a few months because you've got metastatic cancer, you don't need to have all those ICU protections and all these extra crazy things about happen.

You just want to be able to make be made comfortable. Signs the documents. Uh, and lo and behold, he has a health problem. He doesn't have access to care because he gave up his insurance and the man died. He died.

What sort of action has Oz and CMS taken so far? He's been referring cases to the US attorney in Los Angeles. And he spoke to Pam Bondi and Cash Patel, and this is on everyone's radar. And last week, he gave Governor Gavin Newsome a corrective action plan with a 21-day deadline to address this fraud. Now, that letter prompted Nuome to file a civil rights complaint with HHS accusing Oz of quote baseless and racially charged allegations. He says that in one of the videos Oz made exposing this apparent fraud, he singled out the Armenian community unfairly. The complaint asked HHS to investigate if Oz violated federal civil rights law in that video.

We asked Oz about this action from Gavin Newsome. Here's what he told us. I wrote a letter and I visited because I care. I want him to care as much as I do about the most vulnerable people in California. I do think political patronage might be part of this. These are issues that he should deal with internally. Frankly, all I care about is stopping the hemorrhage of money into this area and making sure people aren't hurt.

Well, the amounts of defrauded taxpayer money, tens of billions as you've outlined, is just truly outrageous. Let's hope we do see some real consequences for those involved. Amanda, thank you so much for reporting.

You're welcome. Raise your hand if you've been putting off a dental cleaning, an annual checkup, or honestly any kind of doctor's appointment. Yeah, my hands up, too. But now, our sponsor, Zukdoc, is here to help. Zoddoc is a free app and website that helps you find and book highquality in-et network doctors so you can find someone you love. Whether you're looking for dermatology, dentistry, primary care, eye care, or one of the other 200 plus specialties offered on ZCDO, you can easily search by specialty or symptom to build the care team that's right for you. View thousands of verified patient reviews to get a real sense of who your doctor is. Then, check their real-time availability and book instantly. No phone tag, no waiting around. Appointments made through ZuckDog happen fast, typically within just 24 to 72 hours of booking. Stop putting off those doctor's appointments and go to zoddock.com/wire

to find and instantly book a doctor you love today. That's zooccdoc.com/wire. zdoc.com/wire. Thanks ZuckDoc for sponsoring this message. Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Today Show host Savannah Guthrie, disappeared from her home in Tucson, Arizona over the weekend with investigators fearing the worst.

Joining us now with the latest is Daily Wire reporter Lynden Blake. So, Lyndon, this case has gripped the nation. It's absolutely terrifying. What's the latest?

Yeah, well, you can imagine how many people are invested in this story. We all have mothers, grandmothers. This was an 84y old woman who went home on a Saturday night and her church friends realized she was not at church on Sunday and alerted her families. And now we're getting these details that just are shocking. Time is of the essence in this case cuz when Nancy Guthrie was first reported missing on Sunday, they said she had this medication that she couldn't go 24 hours without. Well, now we're entering day four of the search and that is a dire need. But we're also learning more about the crime scene. And we're also getting withheld information about the crime scene that could just point to how this case is turning more from a missing person's case into something that other authorities are describing how you would handle a homicide investigation. So the new information that's coming out Tuesday,

Pimac County Sheriff Chris Daniels did call this a crime again saying Nancy was taken during the night against her will. There have been reports about her Apple Watch, something disconnecting around 2 am. Christopher Nanos was asked on Tuesday at the press conference if he could narrow down the time frame of NY's disappearance and he wouldn't give any more details on that.

I really um don't want to get into narrowing down the time because narrowing it down means we could miss some tips and leads. We're working to see if that time can be tightened up. other things that he wouldn't give details on which other outlets have reported. Chris Daniels wouldn't say if there was blood found at the scene, but the LA Times and CBS reported that there was blood at the scene and there were signs of forced entry into her home.

So, there was blood that was found inside the house and you're testing it for DNA. How much blood and where was it?

I'm not saying there's blood inside that house or outside that house. What I'm saying is our team processed a scene like you would think of any crime scene. We go in and we process it. Another thing that he wouldn't confirm, giving limited information on, is is what this crime scene looked like. He he wouldn't give details on the suspicious circumstances that led him to believe that a crime happened. Something else that right now we don't have camera footage, ring camera footage, any footage from that neighborhood in Catalina Hills outside of Tucson is being withheld. NO said that stuff is being processed right now, but at the press conference on Tuesday, he said he doesn't know if that video is going to be released. They're also processing possible DNA samples at the scene, but that could take time. A reporter asked Chris Nanos about an Amazon driver that went up to the house on Monday evening,

and Chris Nanos's sheriff said, "The crime scene is cleared. We turned that over to the family." This was less than 24 hours after she was reported missing that a crime scene, which they did label a crime scene, was cleared. I spoke to a former police captain, Joshua Sherard, director of burner law enforcement, about why they might have cleared the crime scene so quickly. I've spent multiple days, four, five, seven days in a house-sized crime scene because there was just more to process and more to process and more to process. So to to clear a crime scene in in the matter of, you know, 24 hours or less tells me that there there's a little bit more targeted search than than they're letting on.

Either that or there just is nothing to process there, which is kind of hard to believe at this point. So, I think that moving forward, uh, we're going to see that the that that they hopefully that they've identified at least a person of interest at this point and are trying to verify that with the physical evidence that they found on the scene.

So, what are the next steps? Well, right now they're looking at every single lead and Chris Nost did say unless something big breaks in the case, they wouldn't have another press conference until Thursday. So, what happens right now is when they're looking at those leads, they're taking in every little thing. A big thing happened on Tuesday. TMC said they received an unverified ransom note for the return of Nancy Guthrie with millions of dollars of Bitcoin. They said the sender had a legit Bitcoin address that was asking for the millions of dollars. They've turned that over to the Puma County Sheriff's Office and authorities at the Sheriff's Office are now looking into that. We haven't heard much from Savannah, but on Monday night she did send out this plea on Instagram with a quote that said, "We believe in prayer. We believe in voices being raised in unison and love and hope. We believe in goodness. We believe in

humanity. Above all, we believe in him. She thanked everyone for their prayers and ended it with bring her mom home. [clears throat] Terrible. Lyndon, thanks for reporting. The CFO of a federal agency providing aid to Africa will plead guilty to taking bribes. Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Rosiaak revealed back in May that the African Development Foundation was doing exactly what the Trump administration suspected its larger counterpart USAD of doing, using foreign aid to enrich DC insiders.

On Friday, the US Attorney for DC announced that Matthew Zahu would plead guilty to one of the actions laid out in Luke's story, admitting to accepting bribes and lying to law enforcement. Luke joins us now to discuss. So Luke, first remind us what exactly this agency is.

Hey John, absolutely. The African Development Foundation is a federal agency that not many people knew existed until it became a hero to Democrat politicians and some media outlets when it staffed locked the doors to prevent Doge auditors from entering. So back in May, I spoke to a number of former staff who told me the agency would send money to African groups, which made it look like it was fulfilling its mission. Um, but then the African groups would send the money, part of the money back to the US to do things like pay staff at its DC office and and their friends. And so this agency was getting such support from Democrats in the media that when I showed up at Zahu's house in May and told him I was a journalist, he gladly spoke with me. Take a listen.

So it was one of those guys and um and Peter Morocco. At least we we recognize those uh those three. Yeah. So, so when they show up, okay, we didn't let them in. They eventually threatened the building security with a gentleman that present himself as a marshal. So, they let them in. Then uh the they forced their way in.

One instance involved no bid contracts to an African company called Ganium Limited, which was owned by a friend of Z Hughes named Maya Gakor. One of those contracts was for travel during COVID when nobody was traveling. I asked him about that.

Ghanaian provide uh basically the IT IT uh IT services and administrative administrative services to us logistics administrative logist.

There's like 800,000 total. Um I can I can uh I doubt the numbers. Did they do like um

I doubt the number very much for Oh, okay. Yeah. Cuz they didn't do like $800,000 worth of work.

No, no, no, no. It's on a contract. But after that, they had a grant. So, the grant is

So, Ganium did have a grant. Yes, they have a grant. Yes. But that that has nothing to do with uh the contract.

How did you know the owners? I would I Oh, he was it was in DC was it was it was B it was in the US. Then he returned home as a a diaspora African diaspora returning home. That's it.

Okay. So it was actually an American. No, it I think he's I don't know. He's Yeah, it might be an American but Kenyan I know he's from Kenya. So

Okay. Did you know him prior to working at ADF? If I know him me personally. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. I know him. Okay. Yeah. Zu has now admitted that Gakor didn't do any work, but kept more than $100,000 and paid him $12,000 in kickbacks. The rest was used to pay bills for the agency, making it look like more money was going to Africa instead of bureaucratic overhead. That was just one troubling example I found. And others involved officials beyond just Zahu. Just really brazen levels of fraud as you've outlined. So, US aid has already been abolished as we've reported. I'd imagine that this agency is next to go.

You'd think uh hours after Zahu's plea deal was announced, Senator Mike Lee introduced an amendment to abolish the African Development Foundation, but it failed. Here's Lee.

Republicans acting alone could have, would have, and should have defunded this today. But instead, what was the result? Well, it was defeated. All Democrats voted to table it. and they were joined by just enough Republicans, just a small handful of them, uh, to table this measure with a vote of 58 to 42. Look, I I I look forward, let's just say, to hearing my colleagues explain this vote. Daily Wire editor-inchief Brent Sher asked all 11 Republicans why they voted not to defund this agency, and none replied. They were Senators Boozeman Capido Collins Kramer Graham Hovind McConnell Moran Mowski, Tillis, and Wicker.

Well, maybe they should have all read the Daily Wire report first. Luke, excellent reporting as always. Thanks.

Thank you. Thanks for waking up with us. And if you're listening to the show now, you can watch for free on Daily Wire Plus. We'll be back later this evening with more news you need to know.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "California’s Fraud “Epicenter” & Guthrie Search Continues"?

John Bickley (Host), Georgia How (Host), Amanda Presa Jacamo (Guest), Lynden Blake (Guest), Luke Rosiaak (Guest).

What is "California’s Fraud “Epicenter” & Guthrie Search Continues" about?

The Trump administration is intensifying its crackdown on alleged Medicare fraud linked to organized crime in California, raising questions about state officials' responses and the integrity of federal aid programs. Additionally, the search for Nancy Guthrie, feared to have been abducted from her Arizona home, continues with ongoing investigations into related criminal activities.

What is mentioned in this Morning Wire episode?

10 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Daily Wire (company), Nancy Guthrie, Dr. Meett Oz, Matthew Zahu, African Development Foundation, Savannah Guthrie. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "California’s Fraud “Epicenter” & Guthrie Search Continues"?

The episode runs 17 min; the transcript is about 3,245 words in 50 timestamped sections.

More from Morning Wire

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated February 5, 2026.