State Dept. condemns arrests, repression in Russia

It called for the release of protesters and opposition leader Alexey Navalny.

This is the fifth day of the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.


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Florida Trump supporters plan welcoming gathering

Trump's supporters in Florida are planning to line the streets in a show of support for his final presidential motorcade Wednesday morning from Palm Beach International Airport to Mar-a-Lago.

Trump is expected to land around 11 a.m. and in an email Tuesday to supporters, Club 45, a popular pro-Trump Florida group, urged locals to show up early to line the streets and give the president "the largest welcome home greeting ever."

The email included a photo of Trump waving from inside another motorcade.

-ABC News' Will Steakin


Biden, Harris hold memorial for Americans lost to COVID-19

Just hours before they are to be sworn into office, President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris honored the 400,000 Americans who have died as a result of the novel coronavirus with a tribute in front of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

After an invocation, Harris called on Americans to stand together.

"For many months we have grieved by ourselves. Tonight we grieve and begin healing together. Though we may be physically separated, we, the American people, are united in spirit," she said.

Biden thanked the country's nurses and also echoed the call for unity.

"To heal we must remember, and it’s hard sometimes to remember, but that’s how we heal," he said.

As the ceremony ended, 400 lights along the pool were lit up, symbolizing the lives lost. Church bells around the country rang in unison and gospel singer Yolanda Adams sang Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah."


White House releases Trump's pre-taped farewell address

The White House has released a pre-taped farewell address from President Trump on his final full day in office.

"We did what we came here to do – and so much more," Trump said, speaking from scripted remarks directly into the camera and standing behind a lectern with the presidential seal. "This week, we inaugurate a new administration and pray for its success in keeping America safe and prosperous. We extend our best wishes, and we also want them to have luck -- a very important word."

Trump thanked several people, including Vice President Mike Pence.

"Most of all, I want to thank the American people," Trump said. "To serve as your president has been an honor beyond description. Thank you for this extraordinary privilege."

Trump then condemned the riot at the Capitol and called on Americans to "unite around our shared values."

"All Americans were horrified by the assault on our Capitol. Political violence is an attack on everything we cherish as Americans. It can never be tolerated," Trump said.

He warned that the greatest danger the country faces as he leaves office is "a loss of confidence in our national greatness" -- going on to talk about the shared "heritage" of the country under threat and condemning "political censorship and blacklisting."

"Now, as I prepare to hand power over to a new administration at noon on Wednesday, I want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning," he said, closing out the 20-minute farewell address.


Pence attending Biden's inauguration, skipping Trump's farewell event

Vice President Mike Pence will not be attending Trump’s farewell ceremony at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday, according to his schedule.

Instead, his only event of the day is to attend Biden's inauguration.

-ABC News' Elizabeth Thomas


Murthy on vaccine supply, distribution: There are lots of challenges

In his appearance on ABC's "This Week" Sunday, Biden’s nominee for Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said that when it comes to meeting the goal for 100 million vaccines in the first 100 days of the president's administration, there are things that could go right or wrong.

"I think President Biden fully understands there's a larger goal here, as we all do, which is that we've got to vaccinate as many Americans as possible. And that's going to take a lot of work, work dispelling this disinformation, working on the supply, increasing distribution channels," he told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos. "And that's some of what the vaccine plan that he announced over the last week is intended to -- to achieve."

Stephanopoulos pressed Murthy on whether there are ways to increase the supply and equitably distribute the vaccines.

"It appears, at least in these first vaccines that have gone out, they've been going largely to wealthier areas of the country, largely to whiter areas of the country," Stephanopoulos said.

"Well, it's the right question, George, because success has to be gauged not just by the number of vaccines we deliver but also by how fairly we deliver those vaccines -- how equitably we deliver them," he said in response. "What we've got to do here is not just, again, increase supply, which we can do using the Defense Production Act ... but we've also got to set up the kind of distribution channels, like mobile units, like strategically placed community vaccination centers, that can reach people who traditionally are hard to reach and don't have access to health care."

He added, "We have got to track our progress. We have got to make sure that we have data on where the vaccine is being administered, so that we can ensure that it, in fact, is being distributed equitably."