The White House said drones flying over New Jersey and New York do not pose a public threat, but lawmakers still want more answers. The suspect in CEO Brian Thompson’s death was never insured with UnitedHealthcare, the company said. And a couple’s $92,000 in medical debt is being wiped out, according to a report from NBC News.

This is what you should know today.

Lawmakers are demanding more information about mysterious drones

The White House is downplaying recent mysterious drone sightings in New Jersey and New York, with a White House National Security official insisting that there is “currently no evidence that these reported sightings pose a threat to national or public safety.” or have a foreign connection.” Still, key lawmakers in the House and Senate are demanding answers.

Residents have been watching drones and recording videos of them for weeks. Officials describe them as commercial devices rather than typical “hobby” drones. Eyewitness accounts and officials confirm the drones are up to 6 feet in diameter. Public concern intensified this week when Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey suggested on Fox News that the drones came from an Iranian “mother ship” off the East Coast. The Defense Ministry has denied the claims.

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House Speaker Mike Johnson said he expects to receive a classified briefing on the drones soon. Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim of New Jersey and Chuck Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand of New York, all Democrats, sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Federal Aviation Administration chief Michael Whitaker demanding a Instruction.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, a member of the Intelligence Committee, said he received information about the drones last week and this week and said, “I don’t think there are any immediate threats to public safety.” But the public does deserves to know more.”

Local officials did too asked for answers.

Read the full story here.

More news from politics:

• Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, the parent company of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.
• Trump has admitted that it will be so “difficult” to reduce food pricesalthough he has made it a central tenet of his 2024 campaign. The comments were part of an interview with Time magazine, which named him Person of the Year.
• Tulsi Gabbard and Pete Hegseth are among the at-risk Trump Cabinet nominees who have done so softened their earlier statements as they face contentious confirmation battles.
• President Biden has promised to veto a bipartisan bill A bill was passed in Congress that would create dozens of new judgeships.
• Some Republicans in the House represent high-tax states would like to see an increase on the federal deduction for state and local taxes, also known as “SALT,” to support an extension of Trump’s 2017 tax law.
• The FBI A “fundamental step” was not taken A new Justice Department surveillance report was discovered while gathering intelligence ahead of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
• Biden is on the way to appointment more federal judges of color than any other president before him.

Mangione was not insured with UnitedHealthcare, according to the company

The man suspected of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is not insured with the company, the parent company that owns the company said. In fact, there is no record that Luigi Mangione was ever insured with the company, UnitedHealth Group said.

Authorities are still investigating the murder. However, Mangione’s social media and writings offer some possible clues. NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Mangione indicated he suffered a painful, “life-changing” back injury and Mangione may have targeted Thompson because of UnitedHealthcare’s size. “We have no indication that he was ever a customer of UnitedHealthcare, but he mentions that it is the fifth largest company in America, which would make it the largest healthcare organization in America,” Kenny said.

Mangione is being held in Pennsylvania, where the next hearing on the charges there is scheduled for December 30. New York police said Mangione would be returned to New York to face murder charges.

A simple device could help prevent accidental shootings. Why don’t there be more guns?

A 13 year old in Chicago. A former Marine in Florida. A grandfather in Texas. Everyone thinks the gun in their hand is unloaded because the magazine has been removed. When they raise the gun and pull the trigger, neither of them notices that there is a cartridge in the chamber.

It’s a danger that gun manufacturers have long been aware of – and one whose solution is seemingly simple: a small metal device called a magazine disconnect that prevents a pistol from firing when the magazine is removed. But gun manufacturers don’t have to include it, so in most cases they don’t.

An NBC News investigation found that at least 277 people have died in such accidents since 2000 – almost certainly an undercount. At least 42 people died in 2021, the most recent year of federal data available. “It would be a design flaw in any other conceivable product,” said one gun safety advocate. “We wouldn’t tolerate that in a toaster.” Read the full story here.

Research clarifies timeline of human evolution

Hidden in the genetic code of many people is a mystery that has long fascinated scientists – a tiny section of Neanderthal DNA that has survived tens of thousands of years after the species disappeared. Most non-African people can trace about 1 to 2% of their DNA to Neanderthal ancestry, which is linked to traits such as skin pigmentation, immune response and metabolism.

Now two new studies suggest that ancient humans and Neanderthals interbred during a limited period as humans left Africa. According to the new findings, this wave of interbreeding occurred around 43,500 to 50,500 years ago, younger than some previous estimates suggested. Determining this evolutionary event shifts and limits the possible time period over which humans spread to places like modern-day China and Australia. It also illustrates the importance of fossilized human remains in Europe and the time frame in which humans crossed another extinct species. Despite the new information from these studies, Key questions remain.

read all about it

• More than 3,000 Malibu residents were allowed to return Home as firefighters made progress containing the Franklin Fire in California.
• Family and friends of Travis Timmerman, the Missouri man detained for months in Syria, welcomed his unexpected recovery as a “Christmas miracle”.
• A UCLA student claims it was her was incorrectly diagnosed with gender dysphoria and then “expedited” treatments, according to a lawsuit against several California health care providers and hospitals.
• Country star Morgan Wallen was sentenced to seven days in prison and two years probation for throwing a chair from a rooftop bar in Nashville, Tennessee.

Personnel selection: $92,000 in debt forgiven, NBC News reports

“It’s like you’re in prison and now you’re out.” That’s how she felt, Donna Lindabury said, when she and her husband, Gary, learned there was a $92,000 medical debt owed to Atrium Hospital North Carolina had been wiped out. The debt arose from emergency heart surgery that Gary had to undergo in 2009. Things got so bad that the hospital system placed a lien on her house.

But in September, Advocate Health, a nonprofit system with 69 hospitals in six states, announced it would forgive more than 11,500 debts from former patients – a decision that followed an NBC News report on medical debt in America. As a financial reporter, I don’t often see my work have such an impact TIt was a joy to tell the story of Lindabury. — Gretchen Morgensonsenior financial reporter, NBC News Investigations

NBC Select: Online shopping, simplified

It’s the last two days of Ulta Beauty’s big holiday sale, so check out our editors’ picks the best offers before the sale ends. Also, you can’t go back to sleep the best gifts for technology enthusiaststhe tech-savvy and everyone in between.

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