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Trump-Biden transition updates: At least 20 arrested, 1 stabbed at DC protests

The event was largely peaceful, but grew violent after crowds thinned at night.

ByLibby Cathey, Meredith Deliso, and Kate Pastor
Last Updated: November 16, 2020, 2:06 PM EST

President-elect Joe Biden is moving forward with transition plans, capping a tumultuous and tension-filled campaign during a historic pandemic against President Donald Trump, who still refuses to concede the election one week after Biden was projected as the winner of the presidential race.

Trump has largely hunkered down inside the White House since the election, but on Saturday his motorcade drove drove past supporters gathered to rally in Washington, D.C., on his way to play golf.

Biden, meanwhile, is pressing forward, meeting with transition advisers in Delaware and calling Trump's refusal to concede "an embarrassment."

The Biden transition team and the Trump administration are in a standoff over whether Biden should be granted access to federal resources allocated for the transition of power. The General Services Administration, headed by a Trump appointee, has yet to officially recognize Biden as the victor in the election, preventing Biden's team from gaining full access to government funds and security information.

But a growing number of Republican senators are calling on the administration to start giving Biden classified intelligence briefings, a sign that support for Trump's refusal to concede the election may be waning among his allies on Capitol Hill.

Top headlines:

Here is how the transition is unfolding. All times Eastern.
Nov 12, 2020, 1:50 PM EST

Biden speaks with His Holiness Pope Francis

Adding to the list of congratulatory phone calls he's received from world leaders, Biden also spoke Thursday morning with Pope Francis -- the bishop of Rome, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State who grabbed the world's attention last month when he became the first pope to endorse same-sex civil unions.

Pope Francis and Vice President Joe Biden stand on Speakers Balcony at the U.S. Capitol building following the Pope's speech to a joint meeting of Congress on Sept. 24, 2015.
CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images/File

On the call, Biden thanked “His Holiness for extending blessings and congratulations and noted his appreciation for His Holiness' leadership in promoting peace, reconciliation, and the common bonds of humanity around the world," according to a statement from the Biden campaign.

Biden, notably, would be only the second Catholic U.S. president, joining John F. Kennedy.

So far, the Biden campaign has also confirmed the president-elect has had congratulatory calls with Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the United Kingdom's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, among others.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

Nov 12, 2020, 1:11 PM EST

Some GOP senators says Biden should receive classified briefings

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa told reporters on Capitol Hill Thursday morning that he believes Biden should get access to classified briefings to prepare for the transition -- though he wouldn't go so far to say the GSA should recognize Biden as the president-elect yet.

"I would think especially on the classified briefings the answer is yes," Grassley said when asked about whether Biden should be receiving briefings. The "9/11 report raised concerns that a shortened transition period contributed to a lack of national security preparedness."

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley listens during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 10, 2020.
Jason Andrew/AP

Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, in an earlier radio interview out of Tulsa, announced he will "step in" if Biden is not receiving security briefings by Friday. 

"There is no loss from him getting the briefings," Lankford said. "If that's not occurring by Friday, I will step in as well to be able to push and to say this needs to occur -- so regardless of the outcome and election, no matter which way it goes, people can be ready to do that."

Both senators, in lockstep with the Republican party, maintain that the president has a right to pursue legal challenges until electors cast their votes in December.

-ABC News' Allison Pecorin

Nov 12, 2020, 12:29 PM EST

Pelosi, Schumer suggest Trump’s refusal to concede costing lives

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made clear to reporters on Capitol Hill Thursday they have one message to Republicans in Congress: It is time to move on from the election and accept Biden as the next president.

"The election is over. It wasn't close," Schumer said. "Senate Republicans: Stop denying reality."

He accused Republicans of throwing a “temper tantrum” and expressed confidence that the Biden win is not going to be seriously challenged in court, deeming recent legal maneuvers as “nothing more than a pathetic political performance for an audience of one: President Donald John Trump.”

PHOTO: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speak to the media about the presidential transition in the US Capitol in Washington, Nov. 12, 2020.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speak to the media about the presidential transition in the US Capitol in Washington, Nov. 12, 2020. The Trump White House is still preventing President-elect Biden from gaining access to presidential daily intelligence briefings.
Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA via Shutterstock

Pelosi hammered that Republicans' focus instead should be on passing another coronavirus relief package, which as of right now is stalled in Congress, as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rise across the country and the U.S. labor market inches toward a recovery.

"Stop the circus," Pelosi said. "And get to work on what really matters to the American people."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, asked about where he stands on COVID-19 stimulus when leaving the Senate floor Thursday morning, continued to advocate for a "targeted" bill -- leaving him at odds with Pelosi and Schumer.

-ABC News' Mariam Khan and Allison Pecorin

Nov 12, 2020, 10:45 AM EST

2020 turnout is now the highest in modern history

Nine days after election day, turnout in the 2020 election has officially broken the modern-history record.

The total votes cast currently stand at​ 152,764,399, which is 63.9% of the voting-eligible population in 2020, slightly higher than the modern turnout record of 63.8% set in 1960, according to the U.S. Elections Project.

Biden: 77,635,157 (51%)
Trump: 72,382,585 (47%)

With 96% of the expected vote in nationwide, Biden's lead over Trump has increased to more than 5.2 million votes.

Turnout is expected to continue to climb to reach as high as 158 million votes, experts predict. That could surpass records from a century ago -- hitting around 65.5% of the voting-eligible population -- but those elections excluded significant groups. 

Republican canvas observer Ed White, center, and Democratic canvas observer Janne Kelhart, watch as Lehigh County workers count ballots as vote counting in the general election continues, Nov. 6, 2020, in Allentown, Pa.
Mary Altaffer/AP

-ABC News' Kendall Karson

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