Trump campaign distances itself from attorney Sidney Powell: Transition updates
The campaign now says she's not a member of the president's legal team.
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 two weeks after Biden was projected as the winner and is taking extraordinary moves to challenge the results.
Running out of legal alternatives to override the election loss, Trump invited Michigan's top Republican state lawmakers to visit the White House on Friday, as he and allies pursue a pressure campaign to overturn results in a state Biden won by more than 150,000 votes.
Despite Trump's roadblocks and his administration refusing to recognize Biden as the president-elect, Biden is forging ahead as he prepares to announce key Cabinet positions.
Though Trump has alleged widespread voter fraud, he and his campaign haven't been able to provide the evidence to substantiate their claims and the majority of their lawsuits have already resulted in unfavorable outcomes.
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Biden says all Americans should be able to attend religious services 'safely' during pandemic
While exiting evening Mass at St. Ann's Catholic Church in Wilmington, Delaware, on Saturday, Biden responded to a shouted question from a member of the press pool by saying that all Americans should be able to attend religious service "safely" during the ongoing pandemic.
"Mr. Biden, should all Americans, sir, be able to attend religious services during the pandemic?" a reporter asked Biden.
"Yes, safely," the president-elect responded.
Biden did not respond to a follow-up question on whether that means all Americans should be able to attend indoor religious services like he is able to.
The president-elect has consistently attended indoor church services near his Delaware home since the summer, usually with family and always wearing a mask.
However, it may become more difficult to do so when Gov. John Carney's new coronavirus restrictions take effect on Monday. They will limit indoor gatherings outside of the home to 30% of a venue's capacity and no more than 50 people. Gatherings inside the home will be limited to no more than 10 people, and outdoor gatherings are capped at 50 people but can be expanded to as many as 250 people with approval from the public health department.
-ABC News’ John Verhovek
President-elect Biden’s Chief of Staff Ron Klain and Dr. Moncef Slaoui to appear on ABC’s ‘This Week’
As President Trump continues to refuse to concede the election, ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos will go one-on-one exclusively with President-elect Biden’s chief of staff Ron Klain to discuss the Biden team’s transition and the coronavirus pandemic.
Plus, Stephanopoulos will interview Dr. Moncef Slaoui, the chief science adviser to Operation Warp speed, the federal government's coronavirus vaccine program.
And former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Democratic Strategist Karen Finney and The Dispatch Staff Writer Sarah Isgur join the Powerhouse Roundtable to weigh in on Trump’s latest election gambits.
-ABC News’ Adia Robinson
Trump appears to skip pandemic-focused event at virtual G-20 summit
As Trump serves out his last few months as president and Biden focuses on the raging coronavirus pandemic during his transition, Trump appeared to have skipped a side-event at Saturday's virtual G20 summit on “Pandemic Preparedness and Response.”
During the time the event was scheduled on the G20 agenda, Trump was at his Virginia golf course. He has since returned to the White House.
French President Emanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were among the speakers at the event.
Trump’s brief participation in the virtual summit Saturday appears to have been more-or-less limited to the opening remarks. At times during the Zoom style video recording, the president could be seen looking down at something in front of him.
Meanwhile, despite Trump's roadblocks and his administration refusing to recognize Biden as the president-elect -- including not giving him access to pandemic-related information -- Biden is forging ahead and was meeting with transition advisers on Saturday as he prepares to announce key Cabinet positions.
The White House has yet to release a readout of Trump's participation in the summit, but White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the president addressed the pandemic in his remarks to world leaders. According to her statement, the president stressed the economic components of the pandemic but also talked about advances in treatments and toward a vaccine.
-ABC News’ Jordyn Phelps
AOC, 'Squad' pressure Biden in intraparty feud
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez became an undisputed congressional star after her 2018 primary upset win followed by her championing of the an ambitious legislative package to address climate change quickly dismissed by Republicans and Democrats alike.
AOC, the unofficial leader of the so-called Squad, has reinforcements in the coming next session of Congress, with Reps.-elect Jamaal Bowman, Mondaire Jones and Cori Bush joining the push to address climate change – complicating Joe Biden’s presidency before it even begins.
In a preview, she and the rest of the Squad rallied outside the DNC headquarters on Thursday – firing the first shots of the intraparty civil war as they demanded the Biden deliver on his campaign pledge to enact climate justice – despite pressure from corporate lobbyists.
Ocasio-Cortez claims she’s secured a commitment from the president-elect on a $2 trillion climate plan – which may be more than Biden can deliver given the political divide on Capitol Hill.
A month ago, Biden said that he does not support the Green New Deal, though he has laid out his own plan for addressing climate change.
-ABC News’ John Parkinson