Mangione hires top lawyer, South Korea’s president impeached, no answers for mystery drones: Weekend Rundown

Luigi Mangione disappeared for months before CEO shooting

Before UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed, Luigi Mangione went dark for months and loved ones desperately tried to find him, reaching out to former classmates and posting pleas on social media.

Since his arrest, friends have been struggling to make sense of the news. “He was the kind of person that you would know was going to do great things,” one said. “It’s just utterly heartbreaking to think that he could have been an assassin and heartbreaking to know that his life is essentially forever over or altered in unimaginable ways.”

Mangione has retained a prominent New York attorney to represent him on charges in Thompson’s murder. Karen Friedman Agnifilo was the chief assistant district attorney in the Manhattan district attorney’s office for seven years.

The week that changed Syria

For more than a decade, Syria was synonymous with war, brutality and the family dynasty visiting that violence on its own people. Then, in a relative eyeblink, everything changed.

It was one week ago that President Bashar al-Assad fled the country as rebels entered Damascus. Syrians have since torn down statues of Assad and ripped back the veil from his murderous regime.

Thousands of people have been freed from torturous prisons, while thousands more have been left searching the notorious sites for their loved ones. And the desperate hunt for missing American Austin Tice uncovered another American, a pilgrim named Travis Timmerman, in one of many remarkable developments.

Debra Tice, the mother of the journalist who has been missing since he was detained in Syria in 2012, said Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that Timmerman’s discovery was “almost like having a rehearsal … of what it’s going to really feel like when it is Austin walking free.”

One week after the fall of Assad, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has confirmed the U.S. has made direct contact with Syria’s Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), which the U.S. still officially considers a terrorist group, as it transitions from a militant insurgency toward a more legitimate governing authority.

South Korean president impeached

Lawmakers voted Saturday to impeach South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed attempt to impose martial law.

The motion held that Yoon’s declaration was unconstitutional and illegal because there were no signs of national emergency and because he neglected to follow procedural rules. The vote was 204 to 85.

“This is only the beginning,” said Park Chan-dae, floor leader for the main opposition Democratic Party. “We will conduct a thorough investigation of people involved with the martial law.”

Yoon was immediately suspended from state duties after the vote, with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo serving as acting president. Yoon will remain in the presidential residence until a ruling by the Constitutional Court, which has six months to decide whether to uphold the impeachment motion.

No answers for mystery drones as officials request help

Confusion and frustration over mysterious drone sightings along the East Coast are reaching a boiling point, and in New York, they even forced a brief shutdown of runways at New York Stewart International Airport on Friday.

“This has gone too far,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement. She said she directed the New York State Intelligence Center to actively investigate the drone sightings and coordinate with federal law enforcement agencies to address the drones.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., requested that a drone detection system be sent to New York and New Jersey. “Multiple drones flying together can confuse a traditional radar system, and that’s why, again, this new technology can really get us the answers that we need,” he told reporters Sunday.

In Seaside Heights, New Jersey, NBC News had direct access to surveillance efforts by local officials and witnessed several fast-flying objects Friday that appeared to be moving much faster than commercial planes on the police thermal cameras.

After about a month of reported sightings, there still haven’t been any clear answers. “Realistically, once we find out where they’re coming from or where they’re going, we’ll have a better idea of who’s doing it,” a detective said.

Meet the Press

In an interview with “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker on Sunday, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a top Trump ally, plainly said “no” when he was asked whether he agrees with President-elect Donald Trump’s claim that members of the House Jan. 6 Committee should go to jail.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., described the threat to jail the committee members as “an outrageous statement” and said President Joe Biden should consider pre-emptive pardons for the seven House Democrats and two House Republicans, then-Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.

“This is what authoritarianism is all about. It’s what dictatorship is all about,” Sanders said.

You can watch the full interview here.

Politics in brief

Pelosi recovering: Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the former House speaker, underwent hip replacement surgery in Germany after she sustained an injury in Luxembourg during a congressional trip.

Trump settlement: ABC News will pay $15 million to Trump’s presidential foundation as part of a legal settlement, closing out a defamation case Trump brought over comments by anchor George Stephanopoulos.

Pardon problems: As Trump prepares to issue pardons for Jan. 6 rioters, allies and critics alike have concerns that he has not followed the details of the sprawling investigation into the Capitol attack.

Culture warrior tapped: Harmeet Dhillon, a Republican lawyer known for championing conservative causes and the GOP national committeewoman for California, has been put forward to lead the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Democrat reflects on loss: Sen. Bob Casey, one of the longest-serving senators in Pennsylvania’s history, narrowly lost his race, and he thinks it’s partly because of how “strong” a candidate Trump was.

A box office surprise

An astronaut. — Matthew McConaughey in “Interstellar.”Melinda Sue Gordon / Paramount / Everett Collection

The re-release of “Interstellar” in IMAX has given Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi epic another big box office success a decade after it debuted. The film, starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, generated $4.5 million across 166 screens last weekend, with all IMAX screenings selling out.

Nolan has amassed a fervent fan base over the years, and some moviegoers who missed “Interstellar” in theaters the first time have been excited to get the full cinematic experience.

“A friend told me I can’t experience it on a TV screen or a laptop screen,” one said. “It just does not compare.”