Victims in Georgia school shooting identified and how Nvidia shook the stock market: Morning Rundown

The suspect in a Georgia school shooting was investigated over previous school shooting threats. A Los Angeles community is stricken by accelerating landslides. And how Nvidia’s $297 billion loss rattled the stock market.

Here’s what to know today.

Two students and two teachers killed in Georgia school shooting; 14-year-old suspect arrested

Authorities identified the two teachers and two students killed in a shooting yesterday at Apalachee High School, located about an hour outside of Atlanta. The two teachers were Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Chirstina Irimie, 53. Both taught math, according to the school’s website. The two students killed were identified as Mason Schermerhorn, 14, and Christian Angulo, 14. 

The suspect in the shooting was identified as 14-year-old Colt Gray, who will be charged with murder and handled as an adult, Georgia Bureau of Investigation director Chris Hosey said. The suspect used an “AR platform-style weapon” in the shooting and surrendered to law enforcement after he was confronted by a school resource officer, Hosey said.

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Authorities also revealed that the suspect was previously investigated in connection with threats to carry out a school shooting. The suspect was 13 years old at the time and made threats online last year using photos of guns, the FBI’s Atlanta field office and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said in a joint statement. Here’s what else is known about the suspect.

Nine other people were injured in the shooting: eight students and one teacher. All were injured by gunfire in some capacity, and all are expected to recover, said Hosey and Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith.

A motive in the shooting was unclear. 

Read the full story here.

Pro-Trump media outlet and right-wing creators involved in alleged Russian scheme, prosecutors say

The indictment yesterday of two employees of the Russian-backed media network RT — Konstantin Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva — includes allegations that the duo implemented a nearly $10 million plan to fund an unnamed Tennessee-based company as one of their “covert projects” to influence American politics. That company appears to match the description of Tenet Media, a leading platform for pro-Trump voices, according to an NBC News review of charging documents, business records and social media profiles. 

Also, details included in the indictment matches two of Tenet’s six commentators: Dave Rubin, a self-described libertarian and an early creator of the “intellectual dark web;” and Tim Pool, a digital journalist for outlets including Vice News and Fusion who has become one of the right’s most popular online influencers. Both Rubin and Pool said on X that they’re victims in the alleged scheme.

Here’s what else we know about Tenet Media and how the alleged scheme between RT operatives and U.S. commentators played out, according to prosecutors.

In announcing charges against the two RT employees, the Biden administration also announced sanctions against what it said are Russian government-sponsored attempts to manipulate U.S. public opinion ahead of the November election. 

Affluent L.A.-area coastal city is a geological ticking time bomb

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Rancho Palos Verdes, an affluent suburb of Los Angeles where accelerating landslides forced electricity to be cut to nearly 250 homes to avoid the possibility of fires.

Landslides in Rancho Palos Verdes are nothing new. The land beneath the city, which sits atop steep cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, has been moving for hundreds of years, scientists say. But intense rainfall over the past two years has saturated the peninsula and has prevented water from draining properly below ground. Whereas the ground slid downward 8 inches annually in years past, it has lurched 13 inches per week in some places in July and August.

Now, homeowners are on the hook for finding off-grid alternatives, as well as paying to fix damage to their homes. And the city is already facing at least one big setback to potential efforts to mitigate land movement: the discovery of an even deeper landslide.

Biden’s presidential home stretch

Joe Biden has entered the twilight of his presidency. With no re-election campaign and little precedent to guide him, Biden is focused on an ever-present goal: securing his legacy, aides and White House officials said. That has meant implementing pillars of his legislative record — infrastructure investments, boosting manufacturing, climate change initiatives and expanded veterans care — while laying the groundwork for new policy ideas that would give a potential Harris administration a running start. 

He’s also traveling to Republican-leaning areas and red states to make the case that his agenda benefited those who voted against him, multiple advisers said. Today he’ll be in a Wisconsin county that voted reliably Democratic for two decades until former President Donald Trump carried it twice.

Despite his upcoming travels, Biden still has finds himself with more free time, and he’s channeling much of it into a foreign policy agenda.

Read the latest 2024 election coverage: 

• The Harris and Trump campaigns have agreed to rules for next week’s presidential debate.
• There’s a lot of football talk as Democrats try to brand their party as “normal.”
• Pro-Palestinian protests are returning to college campuses, putting the issue back in the spotlight ahead of the election.
• Former Rep. Liz Cheney became the latest high-profile Republican to endorse Kamala Harris for president.
• An NBC News analysis of nearly 150 TV ads found that cost of living, abortion and border policies are shaping the fights in competitive House districts. Here’s what else.
• Here’s how the economy is doing in the handful of counties that could decide the election. 
• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott criticized the Biden-Harris administration for busing migrants to other parts of the country, then bragged about doing the same thing.

Politics in Brief 

Trial underway: Jury selection is scheduled to begin today in Los Angeles federal court for Hunter Biden’s trial on tax-related charges alleging a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in taxes.

Israel-Hamas war: The families of American hostages being held by Hamas want the White House to seriously consider a unilateral deal that doesn’t include Israel to secure their loved ones’ release.

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Staff Pick: How Nvidia lost almost $300B in value, shook the stock market

Nvidia saw a dramatic 9.5% drop in shares earlier this week, a sell-off that sparked losses in the broader market. If you’re just getting acquainted with the company and its impact, it might be helpful to know that Nvidia is a chipmaker that’s essentially powering the AI revolution, that it’s America’s second-largest public company and that its stock has become a bellwether for the global economy — all factors that help illustrate why this week’s market tumble turned heads. Business reporter Rob Wile explains what else has investors and economists on edge. — Elizabeth Robinson, newsletter editor

NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified

Fall isn’t just about football and leaf-peeping. Unfortunately, it’s also virus season — but there are a few ways to be prepared. First, make sure you have a stash of at-home Covid tests. Don’t forget to stock up on KN95 face masks. And consider an air purifier for your home.

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