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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Biden, Harris to honor lives lost to COVID

Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will mark the lives lost to COVID-19 in a special event in Washington the night before the inauguration, according to their transition team.

The two will speak at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Tuesday evening, according to a schedule.

As of Monday evening, 398,879 Americans have died from the coronavirus, according to data from John Hopkins' Coronavirus Resource Center.


'Field of Flags' lights up National Mall

The Biden Presidential Inaugural Committee began its transformation of the National Mall ahead of Wednesday's ceremony with a special light decoration Monday evening.

Fifty-six pillars of light, representing the 56 U.S. states and territories, illuminate a "Field of Flags" public art display.

The display includes nearly 200,000 U.S. flags meant to represent the Americans who are not able to travel to the inauguration due to COVID-19.

The lights were turned on ahead of the "United We Serve" event being held later Monday evening. The event commemorates Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle


Trump unlikely to issue self pardon or pardons for his family: Sources

The president is unlikely to issue pre-emptive pardons to his children and other close associates, despite weeks of internal battles among White House aides, sources with knowledge of the conversations confirmed to ABC News. The sources went on to say that they do not expect Trump to issue a pardon for himself. The sources noted the conversations have been fluid and the president has been known to change his mind at times.

Trump has been encouraged by allies to issue pardons to his children and himself over fears of possible criminal investigations, specifically after Trump's call with Georgia state officials regarding the 2020 election results and after Trump and members of his family spoke at a rally held on the National Mall that incited the riot on Capitol Hill.

The list of pardons the Trump administration is expected to issue in the final hours of Trump's presidency is growing smaller, with sources saying the final list could amount to just over 100.

-ABC News’ John Santucci and Katherine Faulders


Biden advisers met with national security officials on inauguration security

Members of Biden's national and homeland security teams met via video conference with current career and acting agency heads to discuss inaugural security, the Biden team announced in a readout of the call on Monday.


Led by incoming homeland security adviser Dr. Liz Sherwood-Randall and temporary adviser to the transition on homeland security Lisa Monaco, the group discussed the "current operational posture for the Washington, D.C. region and the nation," though little information was shared about the actual content of the call.

"Career officials from the National Security Council, the Secret Service, the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, the National Counterterrorism Center, the Department of State, the Department of Treasury, the Department of Defense and other agencies briefed participants on the current security situation and the pace of interagency coordination with state, local, and industry partners," the readout said. "Participants affirmed the importance of continued close coordination in the period leading up to and including Inauguration Day."

Biden's inauguration on Wednesday is expected to be unlike any other, featuring an unprecedented level of security as well as a slew of pandemic precautions.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle


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."