What to Know
- The Trump transition team said Tuesday morning that Tom Price will be nominated Secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services
- A plane carrying a Brazilian soccer team crashed in Colombia, killing 76 people on board; 5 people survived
- A Somali-born student has been identified as the suspect in the Ohio State University rampage on Monday; he was shot and killed by police
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“Very Important Announcements” From Trump
Donald Trump's hunt for a secretary of state is veering into dramatic terrain, with the president-elect summoning Mitt Romney back for a second look as a top aide leads a public pressure campaign against the pick. Exiting Trump Tower on Monday night, Vice President-elect Mike Pence simply teased "a number of very important announcements tomorrow." Early Tuesday morning, the Trump transition team announced that Georgia Rep. Tom Price will be nominated to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Indiana health policy consultant Seema Verma will be nominated as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the team said. If confirmed by the Senate, Price will play a central role in Republican efforts to repeal and replace the current health care law.
Deadly Plane Crash in Colombia
A chartered plane with a Brazilian first division soccer team crashed near Medellin while on its way to the finals of a regional tournament, killing 76 people, officials in Colombia said Tuesday. Five people survived, authorities added. "What was supposed to be a celebration has turned into a tragedy," Medellin Mayor Federico Gutierrez said from the search and rescue command center. Aviation authorities said that the plane declared emergency at 10 p.m. because of electrical failure.
Suspect ID’d in Rampage at OSU
Local
Investigators are looking into whether a car-and-knife attack at Ohio State University that injured 11 people was an act of terror by a Somali-born student who had once criticized the media for its portrayal of Muslims. The attacker, identified as Abdul Razak Ali Artan, plowed his car into a group of pedestrians on campus shortly before 10 a.m. Monday, and then got out and began stabbing people with a butcher knife before he was shot to death by a campus police officer, authorities said. Chief Investigative Reporter Jonathan Dienst has the latest.
4th Day of Mourning for Castro in Cuba
Hundreds of thousands of Cubans bade farewell to Fidel Castro on Monday, pledging allegiance to his socialist ideology and paying tribute before images of the leader as a young guerrilla gazing out over the country he would come to rule for nearly half a century. Lines stretched for hours outside the Plaza of the Revolution, the massive plaza where Castro delivered fiery speeches to hundreds of thousands of supporters in the years after he seized power. "Fidel is everything to us, the soul of this country who gave everything, all his life," said Tania Jimenez, 53, one of the first in line. NBC New York reporter Stefan Holt is in Havana with the latest.
S. Korea’s President: “I Will Step Down”
South Korean President Park Geun-hye said Tuesday that she'll resign if parliament comes up with a plan to transfer power, her latest attempt to fend off impeachment efforts and massive street protests amid prosecution claims that a corrupt confidante wielded government power from the shadows.
Workers Rally for $15 in NYC
"Fight for 15" workers were rallying Tuesday to mark the anniversary of the four-year effort to fight for a higher minimum wage. The workers began gathering at Zuccotti Park, former de facto headquarters of the Occupy Wall Street movement, for the demonstration Tuesday morning. Organizers said they expected hundreds of people to turn out.
BQE Repair Plans Announced
Transportation officials in New York City have announced plans to spend $1.7 billion to repair a one-and-a-half mile stretch of the aging Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Recent inspections have found that the much-maligned highway would require emergency repairs in the future without a major overhaul within the next decade. The BQE is one of the city’s most vital corridors, with roughly 140,000 vehicles traveling on it each day, the NYCDOT said. Officials hope to keep some lanes open during the project, which starts in two years.
WTC-Scaling Daredevil at It Again?
The teen daredevil who pleaded guilty to scaling to the top of One World Trade Center as a teen in 2014 appears to be back at his high-wire act. Dozens of photos and videos posted in recent weeks to what appears to be Justin Casquejo's Instagram account shows the man, now 18, hanging off of buildings, cranes and rooftops across New York City. The NYPD said detectives are looking into the photos.
