5 things to know for Dec. 17: Wisconsin school shooting, Moscow explosion, Trump transitio

December 17, 2024December 17, 2024

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The FBI has received around 5,000 tips over the last few weeks regarding drones — and is still investigating about 100 of them. As wild conspiracy theories spread about the drones’ origins, the White House says most of the reported sightings are actually lawfully operated aircraft or even stars.

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1. Wisconsin school shooting

The city of Madison, Wisconsin, was left reeling after a school shooting on Monday killed one student and one teacher and injured several others. The shooter, identified by police as a 15-year-old female student, died of a self-inflicted gunshot after the attack at Abundant Life Christian School. Survivors of the shooting — some as young as 7 and 8 years old — recalled screaming in the hallways of the school, saying they were “really scared” and “really sad.” It remains unclear why the suspect pulled out a handgun and opened fire at her peers, police said. The Wisconsin shooting was the 83rd school shooting recorded in 2024, surpassing 2023 for the most school shootings in a single year since CNN began tracking such incidents in 2008.

2. Moscow explosion

A top Russian general accused of using chemical weapons on the battlefields in Ukraine was killed after a bomb went off in Moscow early today, Russian investigators said. Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, who headed Russia’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, is the most senior military official known to be killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Ukraine’s security services were behind the assassination, a source told CNN, calling Kirillov a “war criminal and an absolutely legitimate target.” The blast came a day after Ukrainian prosecutors sentenced Kirillov in absentia for Russia’s use of banned chemical weapons during its invasion.

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CNN visits area where Russian general was killed in Moscow bomb blast

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CNN

3. Trump transition

In wide-ranging remarks on Monday, President-elect Donald Trump downplayed concerns that his administration would revoke the polio vaccine’s authorization, suggested he could pardon New York City Mayor Eric Adams and said he will press Ukraine and Russia to end the war. Trump described himself as a “big believer” in the polio vaccine and said that Americans won’t lose it amid concerns that his pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., could seek to revoke its approval. Also on Monday, Judge Juan Merchan ruled Trump does not have presidential immunity protections in the New York hush money case. Trump’s transition spokesman called Merchan’s decision “a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s decision on immunity, and other longstanding jurisprudence.”

President-elect Donald Trump stands with Howard Lutnick, left, and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, right, at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday, December 16.

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Trump says he’s a big believer in the polio vaccine

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CNN

4. TikTok ban

Donald Trump met with TikTok CEO Shou Chew at his Mar-a-Lago club on Monday, hours after the president-elect suggested he might reverse course on the impending ban on the social media app in the US. “I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points and there are those that say that TikTok has something to do with it,” Trump said on Monday. (Trump lost 18-29-year-old voters to Vice President Kamala Harris by 11 points, according to CNN’s 2024 exit polls.) Nevertheless, the platform could be banned in the US on January 19 unless it can convince Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell it to a new, non-Chinese owner. Attorneys for TikTok are now asking the Supreme Court to temporarily block the ban.

<p>President-elect Donald Trump met with the head of TikTok at his Mar-a-Lago club Monday afternoon, a person familiar with the meeting told CNN, as the social media giant is asking the Supreme Court to wade into a court fight over banning the app in the United States.</p>
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Trump meets with TikTok CEO amid company’s fight over federal ban

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CNN

5. Holiday weather

Early forecasts indicate temperatures could max out around 10 to 15 degrees above normal for much of the US on Christmas Day. It’s a forecast reminiscent of last Christmas for many, which came amid the warmest winter on record in the country. Unseasonably warm conditions will dominate the western half of the US — including Alaska and Hawaii — while the eastern region will likely see some wet weather, according to the Climate Prediction Center. Even though it could be cold in the East, it’s also expected to be much drier than normal from the weekend through the holiday, meaning potentially less snow. Meteorologists say at least 1 inch of snow needs to be on the ground on December 25 for it to count as a white Christmas.

BREAKFAST BROWSE

Woman who stowed away on Delta flight to Paris apprehended again
The woman who stowed away on a Delta flight from New York to Paris last month was taken into custody again, this time trying to sneak into Canada.

Support grows for a four-day school week
More rural school districts in the US are moving to a four-day week to attract and retain teachers amid funding challenges and a nationwide teacher shortage. Read about the proposal that gives staff and students Mondays off.

China extends visa-free transit policy
China has tripled the amount of time visitors can spend in the country without a visa in yet another move to entice more foreign tourists.

London approves plan for joint-tallest tower in Western Europe
The City of London has approved plans for a 73-floor skyscraper that will match in height Western Europe’s tallest tower a mile to the south. See the renderings here.

De’Vondre Campbell suspended by San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers have suspended NFL linebacker De’Vondre Campbell for the rest of the regular season after he refused to play.

TODAY’S NUMBER

7.3
That’s the magnitude of a powerful earthquake that struck the Pacific nation of Vanuatu today. The quake sparked a network outage, crushed vehicles and damaged multiple buildings — including one that houses the US and other Western embassies.

TODAY’S QUOTE

“This is no Cinderella. This is no underdog. This is not luck. It’s will. It’s skill and … talent.”

— University of Vermont soccer player Maximilian Kissel, after the school earned its first-ever NCAA Division I national championship in a team sport on Monday.

TODAY’S WEATHER

Check your local forecast here>>>

AND FINALLY …

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Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson makes Broadway debut in ‘& Juliet’

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– Source:
CNN

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson makes Broadway debut
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson accomplished another one of her life’s goals: to perform in a Broadway show. See a clip of her performance.

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