Michigan state legislature closes offices due to 'credible threats of violence'
Law enforcement recommended the Michigan legislature close its offices.
President Donald Trump is slated to hand over control of the White House to President-elect Joe Biden in 39 days.
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'Small portion of GOP' are 'appeasing' and 'patronizing' Trump because they're 'scared of his Twitter power': Cedric Richmond
Incoming White House Senior Adviser Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond, appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday, but revealed very little about the incoming Biden transition plans for vaccine distribution or dealing with the newly announced investigation of Hunter Biden’s taxes. However, Richmond stressed in his interview that Republicans were very aware that Biden would be president on Jan. 20.
When asked about congressional Republicans largely refusing to recognize President-elect Biden’s victory, Richmond pushed back, saying it was a small portion of the party afraid of Trump.
"They recognize Joe Biden's victory. All of America recognizes Joe Biden's victory. This is just a small portion of the Republican conference that are appeasing and patronizing the President on his way out because they are scared of his Twitter power and other things. And so when it's time to govern, if we can't cooperate -- if Republicans won't meet us halfway, we will go to the American people, and we will continue to push our agenda. But this country is in far too much turmoil. And this pandemic, the economic aspects and health aspects really caused for America to get on one page -- solve this crisis and start to move forward. So -- we're not going to let them slow us down,” he said.
"I talk to Republican members of Congress all the time, and they say one thing privately, they say another thing publicly. But the one thing I will tell you is they realize he lost this election," Richmond added.
- Molly Nagle
'The legal theory put forward by his legal team and by the president is an absurdity': Chris Christie
Former New Jersey governor and ABC News political contributor Chris Christie, criticized President Donald Trump and his allies' efforts to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's election victory during "This Week"'s Powerhouse Players Roundtable discussion on Sunday.
"The legal theory put forward by his legal team and by the president is an absurdity," Christie said. "The reason why the Supreme Court didn't take it is because it's an absurd idea to think that any state or any number of states, no matter how good they are, can challenge another state's right to run the election as they see fit. And, also, there's no evidence," he added.
Christie also denounced what he called were "attacks" by the president on "decent Republican governors."
"What's gotten even worse ... is the attacks by the president on good, hardworking, decent Republican governors," he said. "He's calling them corrupt, and also telling people things that aren't true," Christie said, mentioning the president's recent comments about Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
The president tweeted in November that Kemp was "hapless" and should "overrule his obstinate secretary of state," Brad Raffensperger -- also a Republican backer of Trump -- after the latter has refused to intervene to help Trump.
"The governor's done nothing," Trump also said in a Fox News interview. "He's done absolutely nothing. I'm ashamed that I endorsed him."
On Dec. 12, the president tweeted, "Who is a worse governor, @BrianKempGA of Georgia or @dougducey of Arizona???" as part of a series of tweets blasting both governors since the presidential election.
'While I don't agree with the court's decision, I accept it': Al Gore, 20 years ago today
Former Vice President Al Gore, 20 years ago today said, "Let there be no doubt. While I strongly disagree with the court's decision, I accept it."
Twenty years ago during the 2000 presidential election, the campaigns of George W. Bush and Al Gore fought in court for a chaotic 36 days over a ballot recount in Florida and certification of final results. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately intervened, reversing a state Supreme Court ruling, to end the counting and effectively deliver the presidency to Bush.
At the center of the controversy were irregularities in the way ballots were marked -- so-called "hanging" or "dangling" chads -- which famously required interpretation of voter intent.
Vaccine could not have been authorized sooner: Hahn
The leader of the agency responsible for approving the immunization, Dr. Stephen Hahn, maintained Sunday that the authorization was made as quickly as possible, despite claims to the contrary by President Donald Trump.
In an interview with Fox News Saturday, Trump, after seeming to take credit for the speed of the vaccine's development, said that the Food and Drug Administration could have authorized the shot for emergency use "last week."
"We do not feel that this could have been out a week earlier," Dr. Stephen Hahn, the FDA commissioner, said on ABC's "This Week." "We went through our process. We promised the American people that we would do a thorough review of the application and that's what we did. We followed our process."
Full story here.
- Adam Kelsey
Biden appears without larger walking boot, meets with transition advisers
Biden has arrived at The Queen Theater in Wilmington, Delaware, his de facto transition headquarters ahead of his inauguration in 44 days again without a medical accessory he's donned for the larger part of the last week.
Although Biden's doctor said last Sunday he would likely be wearing a walking boot for "several weeks" after he sustained hairline fractures in his right foot, Biden was not wearing the boot when he walked into the theater Monday afternoon. While attending a Saturday Mass in Wilmington, he was also spotted without what Biden has referred to as "the big boot."
Biden has said his foot feels “good” despite sustaining the fractures just over a week ago, and addressed the boot issue during an interview with CNN Thursday, noting that the larger cast is a little clumsy and while he wears it "most of the time," he’s been given a smaller option for going out in public.
Biden will receive the President’s Daily Brief and meet with transition advisers on Monday, according to his public schedule, and pre-tape transition production elements at The Queen, his team said.
It comes ahead of Biden introducing his top health care picks to the public on Tuesday including California Attorney General Xavier Berecca to lead the Health and Human Services Department and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as Biden's chief medical adviser to lead the country through the worsening COVID-19 pandemic.
-ABC News' Molly Nagle