NPR News Now - NPR News: 12-16-2024 7PM EST

Episode Date: December 17, 2024

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Hurst. A teenage student opened fire this morning at a small Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin, killing a fellow student and a teacher, then turned the gun on themself. Six people were taken to area hospitals. Police say two are in critical condition. Chuck Hornbach of member station WUWM has more.

The shooting took place at Abundant Life Christian School, a kindergarten through 12th grade school that serves students from about 200 families. Madison Police Chief Sean Barnes says he believes the shooter was a teenage student who was armed with a handgun. Barnes says he doesn't know the shooter's motive, but says his detectives are working on the case. So that we can further prevent these things from happening not only in this community, but in other communities around our country.

Barnes says the suspect was dead when police entered the school in response to a 911 call from inside the building. For NPR News, I'm Chuck Quirmbach in Milwaukee. In a wide-ranging interview from his Florida home, President-elect Donald Trump touched on a number of topics, including downplaying concerns his administration would revoke the polio vaccine. I don't like mandates. I'm not a big mandate person.

So I was against mandates. Mostly Democrat governors did the mandates, and they did a very poor thing. In retrospect, they made a big mistake. This after his pick to head Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s personal attorney reportedly filed suit against the FDA to get that vaccine revoked. That drew condemnation from Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, a polio survivor. McConnell, who says the vaccine has saved millions of lives and held out the promise of eradicating a terrible disease, called efforts to revoke

the vaccine dangerous. Kennedy, who ran for president as an independent this year, pressing his anti-vaccine stance, was on Capitol Hill today to meet with senators, where he's expected to face questions on his long history of anti-vaccine rhetoric, along with his vision for reshaping the healthcare industry. An ex-FBI informant has pleaded guilty to fabricating a false bribery claim about President Biden and his son Hunter. And here's Ryan Lucas has more. At a hearing in federal court in Los Angeles, former FBI informant Alexander Smirnoff pleaded guilty to lying about bribes for the Bidens and to charges of tax evasion. According to a statement of facts that accompanied his plea deal, Smirnoff lied to his FBI handler making up a story about a Ukrainian gas company

paying millions of dollars in bribes to President Biden and his son Hunter. That false claim later played a central role in the ultimately unsuccessful effort by House Republicans to impeach President Biden. Under Smirnoff's plea deal, prosecutors and his defense team have agreed to recommend a sentence of between four and six years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for early January. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington. This is NPR News. With the holiday season in full swing, many toy trains are circling Christmas trees, and

many of them are Lionel trains. Jeff Ludden reports the iconic American company is celebrating its 125th anniversary. At the turn of the 20th century, a young inventor named Joshua Lionel Cowan came up with the idea of powering a model train with electricity. Lionel Train's CEO Howard Hitchcock says electricity in homes was a recent phenomenon so this was an exciting new technology. You've got this whiz bang gadget that at the time would have been every bit if not more interesting and powerful than sort of like your current modern-day cell phones. And Lionel Trains

has continued to embrace innovation. Lionel is putting out several products to celebrate its 125th anniversary, including a whole new Star Wars-themed series of trains. For NPR News, I'm Jeff London in New York. One of the earliest tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments is scheduled to be auctioned this week. Opening bid? $1 million.

Sotheby's says it's a rare example of a complete tablet and claims it dates to as early as the fourth century. Sotheby's says workers unearthed it in 1913, just south of Tel Aviv, during railroad construction, and for several decades it served as a paving stone in a home until somebody discovered what the text actually was. The marble slab weighs 115 pounds and is around two feet high. I'm Janene Herbst, NPR News from Washington.