WASHINGTON (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. swept onto Capitol Hill late Monday as the anti-vaccine health guru from the famous political family reintroduced himself to senators, this time as President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the nation's Health and Human Services Department.
It was a soft-opening debut for Kennedy, whose wide-ranging views — yes to raw milk, no to fluoride, Ozempic and America's favorite processed foods — are raising alarms in the scientific community and beyond. In the Senate he's facing a mix of support, curiosity, skepticism and downright rejection among the senators who will be asked to confirm him to Trump's Cabinet.
Kennedy's first stop Monday was on potentially friendly terrain, to the offices of a few GOP senators allied with Trump, the start of a robust, weeks-long process.
One Republican, Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, said Kennedy told him, “I 100% support the polio vaccination.” But Mullin added that their conversation also turned to other childhood vaccinations. He predicts Kennedy will be confirmed.
“The more you talk to him, the more he explains it, the more you like him,” Mullin said.
The man known simply as RFK, Jr., 70, is the latest in the Trump rival-turned-partner orbit, a former Democratic presidential hopeful now in line to run the world's largest public health agency, with its whopping $1.7 trillion budget, and some of the U.S. most important public services.
HHS has a broad reach across the lives of Americans — inspecting the nation's food, regulating medicines and overseeing research of diseases and cures. It provides health insurance for nearly half of the country — poor, disabled and older Americans, including via Medicare.
Richard Besser, CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and former acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called Kennedy “a truly dangerous” choice.
Besser, in an op-ed in U.S. News and World Report, said Kennedy stands out as a “single potential Cabinet member who could do the most damage to the American people’s lives.”
Ahead of Kennedy's arrival he was given a word of advice from one important voice: outgoing Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, a childhood polio survivor, who cautioned the nominee against views opposing the vaccine.
“Anyone seeking the Senate’s consent to serve in the incoming Administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts,” McConnell said recently.
Trump said Monday during his own press conference he’s a “big believer” in polio vaccines and sought to tamp down fears about Kennedy, saying he will be “much less radical” than people think.
The incoming GOP leader, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, said Kennedy will have to address questions about his views on the polio vaccine and other issues.
“Well, I think he’ll have to address that,” Thune said. “We’ll find out.”
But hardline Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a House member who has no vote in the confirmation process, has been influential in supporting and amplifying Kennedy’s views on vaccines.
In the Capitol on Monday, Republican senators said they want to hear more about Kennedy’s views.
“I’m open," said GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina. But “if you come in and say I won’t consider myself successful unless I eliminate these vaccines, that could be problematic.”
Kennedy’s nomination will test the nation’s emerging political realignment, as Trump expands his base of supporters to include former Democratic voters shifting elsewhere. Kennedy’s views find favor but also opposition from both sides of the political aisle.
In particular, Kennedy's ideas about ridding the nation’s food of additives has drawn interest if not support from some Democrats, but his criticism of major farm interests have also raised concerns from the agricultural industry.
Iowa GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley says he’s interested in what Kennedy says about pigs “because Iowa is the number one pig producer.”
Other Trump nominees are also expected back on Capitol Hill this week. The president-elect's choice of Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary, Tulsi Gabbard for Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Kash Patel for FBI director and others are all running into turbulence from wary senators.
With Republicans taking control of the Senate in the new year, Trump's nominees have a pathway to confirmation. But with just a 53-47 majority, any nominee can only lose a handful of GOP supporters, in the face of Democratic opposition.
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Associated Press writers Amanda Seitz and Stephen Groves contributed to this report
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, arrives at the Hart Building to meet with Senators at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, arrives at the Hart Building to meet with senators at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A teenage student opened fire at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin on Monday, killing a teacher and another teenage student in the final week before Christmas break. The shooter also died, police said.
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes did not give details about the age or gender of the suspected shooter who also wounded six others at Abundant Life Christian School, a K-12 school with more than 400 students. Of those wounded, Barnes said two of them were in critical condition with life-threatening injuries. The other four had non-life-threatening injuries, Barnes said.
Barnes said the suspected shooter was a student who likely died by suicide.
A law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation told The Associated Press that the shooter was a 17-year-old female student.
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Barbara Wiers, director of elementary and school relations for Abundant Life Christian School, said students “handled themselves magnificently.”
She said when the school practices safety routines, leaders always announce that it is a drill. That didn’t happen on Monday.
“When they heard ‘lockdown, lockdown,’ they knew it was real,” she said.
Wiers said just before the school year, they had done a retraining with the Madison Police Department, so it was “very fresh for faculty.”
“This has obviously rocked our school community,” she said.
Wiers said the school has a total of 420 K-12 students. The school does not have metal detectors but uses other security measures including cameras, she said.
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes did not release more information about the suspected shooter, including age, gender or name.
Barnes said investigators may have enough information to release more detail later Monday. Authorities have planned a fourth press conference for about 8:30 p.m. CST.
Barnes also warned people against sharing unconfirmed reports on social media about the shooter’s identity.
“What that does is it helps erode the trust in this process,” he said.
School shootings by teenage females have been extremely rare in U.S. history, with males in their teens and 20s carrying out the vast majority most of them, according to David Riedman, founder of the K-12 School Shooting Database.
In a blog post last year, he pointed to a handful of school shootings that involved perpetrators who identified as female, including a 16-year-old girl who shot and killed two and injured several others at San Diego elementary school in 1979.
—By Ryan Foley
Well into Monday afternoon, parents were directed to a medical clinic building about a mile from the school to pick up their children.
Some left holding their young children against their chests, others squeezing kids’ hands or shoulders as they walked side by side.
One family draped an adult-size coat around a young girl’s shoulder as they left the building to a parking lot still teeming with police and law enforcement vehicles.
President Joe Biden called the shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School “shocking and unconscionable” in a statement Monday.
“We need Congress to act. Now," he said.
“From Newtown to Uvalde, Parkland to Madison, to so many other shootings that don’t receive attention - it is unacceptable that we are unable to protect our children from this scourge of gun violence. We cannot continue to accept it as normal,” he said. “Every child deserves to feel safe in their class room. Students across our country should be learning how to read and write – not having to learn how to duck and cover.”
He said that he and his wife, Jill, are praying for the victims. He thanked first responders who arrived quickly and said the FBI is supporting local law enforcement efforts. His team has also reached out to local officials to offer further support, at his direction.
He said that while his administration has taken aggressive action to combat the gun violence epidemic, more is needed:
"Congress must pass commonsense gun safety laws: Universal background checks. A national red flag law. A ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines."
The shooter who killed a teacher and a student Monday at a private Christian school in Wisconsin was a 17-year-old female student, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.
The official was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity. Police in Madison, Wisconsin, said the shooter apparently was dead by suicide when officers arrived.
—By Alanna Durkin Richer
In Las Vegas, Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers opened a news conference Monday by talking about the shooting.
“Not a lot to say. Just a shame this keeps happening,” Rivers said, unprompted and before any questions could be asked. “Kids can’t go to school safe, and it just seems like we don’t do anything about it. Not going to get up here on the podium and give a long speech — except for it’s just bad and that we are thinking about them.”
Las Vegas was the site of the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history in 2017, when 58 people were killed and more than 850 were injured among a crowd of 22,000 at a country music festival.
The Bucks are in Las Vegas for Tuesday’s NBA Cup tournament championship game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes noted “At this time, yes,” the shooter’s family is cooperating.
“I’m feeling a little dismayed now, so close to Christmas,” he said. “Every child, every person in that building is a victim and will be a victim forever. ... We need to figure out and try to piece together what exactly happened.”
Barnes said detectives were, “working hard to find as many answers as we can.”
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes identified the weapon police found as a handgun.
He said the gunfire was confined to one space. He didn’t specify whether it was a classroom.
Someone from the school called 911 to report an active shooter, Barnes said.
He said the police training center is three miles from the school, and staff responded from there.
“What began as a training day became an actual day,” he said.
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said he didn’t immediately know the shooter’s motive but added that detectives were “working hard to find as many answers as we can.”
Barnes said he was not releasing any information about the shooter, including name or gender.
Barnes declined to say anything about the shooter, partly out of respect for the student’s family.
“That’s still someone’s child that is gone,” he said.
A teacher and a teen student were killed in the shooting at a Wisconsin school by a fellow student, police chief says.
In addition to the deceased, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said six other students are being treated at area hospitals, including two in critical condition with life-threatening injuries and four with non-life threatening injuries.
Lisa Adams, a spokesperson for SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison, said the hospital has received patients from the shooting but declined to provide further details.
“We are praying for all affected by today’s tragic incident at Abundant Life Christian School and our community as a whole. We are grateful for the first responders who acted swiftly today,” she said. “SSM Health is dedicated to serving our community. We remain committed to providing support and assistance in any way we can.”
Emily Greendonner, a spokesperson for UW Health, said it is also receiving patients from the shooting and setting up areas for patients’ families. UW Health is affiliated with the University of Wisconsin.
The Abundant Life Christian School asked for the community’s prayers on its Facebook account Monday after a school shooting left at least three people dead, including the shooter.
“Prayers Requested! Today, we had an active shooter incident at ALCS. We are in the midst of following up. We will share information as we are able.
Please pray for our Challenger Family,” school staff posted on the Abundant Life Christian School Facebook page.
Hundreds of commenters offered prayers from around the country, some from former students, former teachers and alumni.
The school of about 390 students noted on its page in previous posts that this was the last school week before holiday break. Commenters also issued well wishes and prayers on videos of students on school trips and singing at the annual Christmas choir concert from recent weeks.
Bethany Highman rushed to the school that her daughter attends as soon as her mom, who lives near the school, called her about the shooting. Highman said she was able to briefly FaceTime with her daughter, so she knows she is safe.
Highman said she doesn't really know any details about what happened.
“We’re just as hungry for what’s going on as I’m sure all of you are,” she said.
Highman said it is surreal because you never expect to go through this even though it does happen.
“I bring my daughter to school knowing well that this happens in the world. That people are struggling. And I pray for my daughter’s safety and I pray for the entire school’s safety. I pray for the hearts of the students, the teachers, the staff members. It’s a very real thing.”
Highman’s world stopped when she got the call about the shooting.
“As soon as it happened, your world stops for a minute. Nothing else matters. There’s nobody around you. You just bolt for the door and try to do everything you can as a parent to be with your kids.”
Highman said she is angry about the shooting and devastated for the families who lost loved ones.
Monday's was the the latest among dozens of school shootings across the U.S. in recent years, including especially deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut, Parkland, Florida, and Uvalde, Texas.
The shootings have set off fervent debates about gun control and frayed the nerves of parents whose children are growing up accustomed to doing active shooter drills in their classrooms.
But school shootings have done little to move the needle on national gun laws. Firearms were the leading cause of death among children in 2020 and 2021, according to KFF, a nonprofit that researches health care issues.
Investigators believe the shooter used a 9mm pistol, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
— By Alanna Durkin Richer
Police have updated the death toll for the shooting.
Police often caution when disclosing the number of victims after a shooting that the information is preliminary and could change. That is not uncommon, especially as investigators gather additional information and details about injuries.
“We are praying for the kids, educators, and entire Abundant Life school community as we await more information and are grateful for the first responders who are working quickly to respond,” Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement.
Agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have responded to the scene to assist local law enforcement.
Abundant Life Christian School is nondenominational and has about 390 students, from kindergarten through high school, according to its website.
Emergency vehicles are parked outside the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wis., where multiple injuries were reported following a shooting, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
