News Information and Media Site: Nightly Rundown: Deadly school shooting in Wisconsin; Drone mystery deepens on East Coast; Trump defends health pick RFK Jr.

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By Dan Donahue

Monday, December 16, 2024

Good Monday afternoon. Police are on the scene of a deadly shooting at a Christian school in Wisconsin, there are growing demands for answers over those mystery drone sightings, and President-elect Donald Trump is defending RFK Jr. as his pick for health secretary.

Here is what's in our Nightly Rundown.

Two killed, shooter dead at Christian school in Wisconsin, police say

A teenage student and a teacher were killed and six other students were injured in a shooting at a K-12 Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin, police said this afternoon.

The suspected shooter, believed to be a teenage student at the Abundant Life Christian School, was also found dead on the campus, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said at a news conference.

Officers responded to an active shooter report at the school around 10:57 a.m., and they did not fire their weapons, Barnes said.

Two of the wounded students are in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, and four others have non-life-threatening injuries, Barnes said.

Two suspects to appear in court in Boston as drone mystery deepens on East Coast

Two men were expected to appear in court today after they were arrested in Boston over the weekend for flying a drone "dangerously close" to Logan International Airport, authorities said.

The arrests come as lawmakers demand answers about the wave of drone sightings that began in mid-November in New Jersey and have now spread to several other states across the Northeast.

President-elect Donald Trump, in his first news conference today since winning the election, suggested the Biden administration knows more than it's letting on. "Something strange is going on, he said. "For some reason they don't want to tell the people, and they should."

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security said in a joint statement that they "have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus."

For the latest on the mystery drones, visit our NBC News live blog.

Trump defends RFK Jr. as Health and Human Services secretary pick

President-elect Donald Trump expressed support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as his pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services begins a series of meetings with Republican senators on Capitol Hill this week.

Our Garrett Haake asked Trump during his news conference today at Mar-a-Lago what he would say to Americans who are worried that Kennedy's anti-vaccine views could make their children less safe.

"No, I think he's going to be much less radical than you would think," Trump said. "I think he's got a very open mind or I wouldn't have put him there."

As he takes the first steps toward confirmation, Kennedy is set to face questions about his anti-vaccine activism, as well as his support for abortion rights when he meets with Republican senators.

He has also faced controversy in recent days after The New York Times reported that one of his advisers once asked the FDA to rescind approval of the polio vaccine.

CEO murder suspect could be indicted this week, Trump weighs in on "cold-blooded, horrible" killing

Luigi Mangione, the suspect charged in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, could be indicted by a grand jury in New York as early as this week, according a source familiar with the investigation.

The indictment would pave the way to extradite Mangione back to New York from Pennsylvania, where he was arrested last week at a McDonald's after several days on the run, according to police.

Mangione has now retained Karen Friedman Agnifilo, a prominent New York attorney, to represent him on charges in Thompson's murder. The lawyer representing Mangione in Pennsylvania has said he will plead not guilty to all charges.

President-elect Trump weighed in on the case during his news conference today, describing Thompson's shooting as a "cold-blooded, horrible killing," and calling the support Mangione has received online a "sickness."

What else we're watching:

TikTok has filed an emergency appeal asking the Supreme Court the block a U.S. law that would ban the video app in the U.S. unless its Chinese owner sells the platform.

A wintry mix is sweeping across the Northeast with more rain on the way this evening through later in the week, forecasters say.

An American Airlines plane headed to Miami clipped another plane before takeoff in Philadelphia on Sunday, forcing the 160 passengers and six crew members to removed from the plane, the airline said.

Germany's government collapsed today after Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a vote of no confidence, opening the door for snap elections in February.

Syria's ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad planned to keep fighting rebel forces before Russia evacuated him from the country, according to the first statement attributed to him since the fall of his regime.

A 16-year-old boy has been jailed on murder charges after he called 911 and reported killing four members of his family at a New Mexico home Saturday, police said.

Rescuers are racing to reach a woman who was injured in a fall and became trapped in a cave in Italy while exploring with eight other people.

Watch us this evening at 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT on NBC, or check your local NBC station listing. After the broadcast, access Nightly News video on NBCNightlyNews.com or the NBC News app.