“Yesterday, I spoke with President-elect Trump to congratulate him on his victory, and I assured him that I’d direct my entire administration to work with his team to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition,” Biden said. “That’s what the American people deserve.”
The president also acknowledged there are different feelings about the results, but said it’s important to accept the choice.
“You can’t love your country only when you win, you can’t love your neighbor only when you agree,” Biden added. “Something I think you can do no matter who you voted for is see each other not as adversaries but as fellow Americans.”
Biden praised Harris for her campaign, saying he respects her character.
He also emphasized the impact of his administration and said there’s still work to be done in his last 10 weeks before he leaves office.
Some of the work includes providing more aid to Ukraine and passing a final government spending bill.
Vice President Kamala Harris concedes the election to former President Donald Trump. And President Joe Biden speaks to Trump to invite him to a meeting at the White House. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024.
Harris concedes presidential election to Trump
Donald Trump is once again president-elect, with more media outlets calling the election on Wednesday, Nov. 6. The former (and future) president not only won the Electoral College but the popular vote as well.
As of early Thursday morning, Nov. 7, Decision Desk HQ had Trump standing at 312 electoral votes, surpassing the 270 needed to win. His opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris earned 226. Trump also led in the popular vote at close to 73 million, with Harris getting just over 68 million.
We heard from Trump celebrating his victory in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. Harris chose not to speak at that time.
Instead, the vice president waited until the afternoon to address a crowd of supporters at Howard University, where she conceded the election.
“The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for,” she said, “but hear me when I say, hear me when I say, the light of America’s promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting.”
Harris said she spoke with Trump on the phone to congratulate him. She also told her supporters it is important to accept the election results and engage in a peaceful transfer of power, calling it “a fundamental principle of American democracy.”
“At the same time, in our nation, we owe loyalty not to a president or a party, but to the Constitution of the United States, and loyalty to our conscience and to our god,” she said. “My allegiance to all three is why I am here to say, while I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign.”
Harris also told the crowd, they might “feel dark times are ahead” but she hopes that’s not the case and added that “sometimes the fight takes a while.”
Harris, as the sitting vice president, will be the one overseeing Congress’ ceremonial certification of the election in January.
Meanwhile, there is speculation Trump could soon begin announcing appointments to key positions in his cabinet, in just a matter of days. Some prospective nominees reportedly canceled their flights out of south Florida Wednesday after election night celebrations, in order to remain close to Trump.
Biden congratulates Trump on win, invites him to White House
President Joe Biden also reached out to President-elect Trump over the phone on Wednesday. During that call, he invited Trump to a meeting at the White House and offered his congratulations.
The White House released a statement saying, “President Biden expressed his commitment to ensuring a smooth transition and emphasized the importance of working to bring the country together.”
A Trump campaign spokesperson confirmed the call, and that Biden invited the president-elect to the White House to “ensure a smooth transition between the current administration and the incoming administration.” The Trump campaign said the White House meeting would take place shortly and Trump very much appreciated the call from Biden.
Biden also spoke to Vice President Harris on the phone Wednesday. He released a statement following her concession speech saying in part, “Under extraordinary circumstances, she stepped up and led a historic campaign that embodied what’s possible when guided by a strong moral compass and a clear vision for a nation.”
President Biden added that selecting Harris as his vice president was “the best decision” he made.
The president is expected to address the nation Thursday on the election and the transition of power.
This morning at 11 AM ET, I’ll address the nation to discuss the election results and the transition.
Special counsel, DOJ reportedly in talks to end Trump prosecutions
Now that former President Trump is once again president-elect, Special Counsel Jack Smith is reportedly in talks with Department of Justice leadership to figure out how to end the criminal cases against Trump. That’s what sources familiar with the matter have told several media outlets.
The DOJ has had a longstanding policy against prosecuting a sitting president and Justice Department regulations say a special counsel must consult DOJ leaders — possibly even Attorney General Merrick Garland — on major decisions in an investigation.
Last year, Smith charged Trump with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and illegally keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Those latter charges were dismissed by a judge earlier this year, but Smith has appealed that ruling. Trump has pleaded not guilty in both cases.
Biden admin rushing billions in assistance to Ukraine: Reports
The Biden administration plans to rush billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine before President Biden leaves office in January, according to multiple reports. The goal is to make sure Ukraine’s government is in a good place when President-elect Trump takes office.
Trump has been critical of the scale of the U.S. military and financial support for Ukraine in its war with Vladimir Putin and Russia.
I had an excellent call with President @realDonaldTrump and congratulated him on his historic landslide victory—his tremendous campaign made this result possible. I praised his family and team for their great work.
We agreed to maintain close dialogue and advance our…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) November 6, 2024
In April, the Republican-controlled House approved more aid for Ukraine, including an allocation for weapons. However, more than $6 billion in aid that has been set aside for Ukraine has not made it there yet.
Trump has vowed to end the war between Russia and Ukraine quickly but has not specified how.
Cuba’s power grid collapses after Hurricane Rafael makes landfall
Hurricane Rafael weakened after making landfall in Cuba as a powerful Category 3 storm, but not before causing the island’s electrical grid to collapse.
While the storm is expected to stay in the southern part of the Gulf of Mexico, heavy rain will be seen in Florida and neighboring parts of the southeast. One to three inches of rain are expected for parts of the Florida Keys.
Rafael is the fifth major hurricane of the year in the Atlantic and the strongest to hit this late in the year since 2020.
Fox News wins election ratings, overall viewership falls from 2020
Fox News once again led the pack, getting the most viewers on election night. During primetime hours between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET, 9.8 million viewers tuned into Fox News. However, that is down from the nearly 14 million viewers who watched in 2020.
On the broadcast side, ABC News came in No. 1 in primetime with 5.6 million viewers.
Overall, Nielsen said across 18 cable and broadcast networks, 42 .3 million people tuned into coverage. That’s down more than 25% from 2020, when election coverage drew nearly 57 million viewers.
*Corrections to Wednesday’s “Unbiased Updates”: We would like to correct that North Carolina did not ‘flip’ blue as the current governor, Roy Cooper, is a Democrat.And, in our final story, history was made in three states on Election Day as two of the elections we mentioned took place in Delaware.
Donald Trump projected to win 2024 presidential election: DDHQ
Donald Trump is projected to win the presidential election and become the 47th President of the United States. The projection is being made by Decision Desk HQ, a forecasting and analysis organization.
This is an extraordinary comeback for Trump, who lost the electoral and popular votes in 2020 after stinging defeats in Georgia, Arizona and Pennsylvania.
This time around, Trump won back both Georgia and Pennsylvania. As of approximately 1 a.m. CST, Arizona and other important states have not been called.
Republicans also won a majority in the Senate, which will give them a key advantage as they work to confirm Trump’s cabinet picks and judicial nominations.
Trump won the presidency despite multiple obstacles, including being found guilty of felonies in New York, being indicted for election related crimes by a special counsel and surviving two assassination attempts. The election crimes case has yet to go to trial and will likely be dropped now that he’s taking office again.
Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris, who was made the Democratic nominee after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race in July 2024.
White House changes transcript of Biden’s controversial ‘garbage’ remark
President Joe Biden’s press team changed the transcript of a comment he made to Latino voters, in which he called Trump supporters garbage. That’s according to members of the White House stenographer’s office, who told The Associated Press they objected to the change because they document the remarks for posterity.
Here are Biden’s exact comments: “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters—his—his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
That was said in response to this remark made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at former President Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally.
“There’s literally a floating pile of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” Hinchcliffe said.
When the transcript of the president’s remarks was released by the White House press office, it included an apostrophe on supporters, making it his supporter’s garbage. White House aides said that was done to show President Biden was criticizing Hinchcliffe and not Trump supporters.
According to an internal email obtained by the AP, the change was made after the press office conferred with the president. A stenographer’s office supervisor on that email called the change “a breach of protocol and spoliation of transcript integrity between the Stenography and Press Offices.”
“If there is a difference in interpretation, the Press Office may choose to withhold the transcript but cannot edit it independently,” the supervisor wrote. “Our Stenography Office transcript—released to our distro, which includes the National Archives—is now different than the version edited and released to the public by Press Office staff.”
President Biden’s statement was quite controversial. It changed the topic of conversation from Hinchcliffe’s remarks to Biden’s and forced Vice President Kamala Harris to distance herself from the president.
“Let me be clear, I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” Harris told reporters.
Trump fundraised off Biden’s comments and held a campaign event in a garbage truck where he was put on defense about Hinchcliffe’s remark.
“I love Puerto Rico and Puerto Rico loves me,” Trump said. “I don’t know anything about a comedian.”
Since Hinchcliffe’s comment, Latino celebrities from across the country have been expressing their support for Vice President Harris.
Harris, Trump look to win the West with 4 days until Election Day
As the presidential campaign heads into the final weekend, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris swing through the western U.S. to sway undecided voters. And crews in Spain search for survivors after a year’s worth of rain fell in just hours. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Friday, Nov. 1, 2024.
Harris, Trump look to win the West with days until Election Day
With just four days to go until Election Day and more than 65 million ballots already cast, the candidates are making their final stops on the campaign trail. On Thursday, Oct. 31, both nominees visited the western United States to make their case.
Republican nominee former President Donald Trump spoke at campaign events in New Mexico, Nevada and Arizona, while Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris held rallies in Arizona and Nevada.
At an event in Glendale, Arizona with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Trump repeated his stance of there being “an enemy within” the United States — a comment Harris has criticized in her speeches.
“If you have a smart president, somebody that knows what’s happening, you’re going to be fine,” Trump said, “But we do have an enemy from within. We have some very bad people, and those people are also very dangerous. They would like to take down our country. They’d like to have our country be a nice communist country or a fascist in any way they can, and we have to be careful of that.”
In Henderson, Nevada, Trump said Harris would not be able to handle the presidency, calling her “a child” when it comes to understanding the economy. He also announced former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would be working on “health and women’s health” if he’s reelected.
While in Reno, Nevada, Harris continued her warnings to supporters about another Trump presidency, calling trump “increasingly unstable” and “obsessed with revenge.”
“In less than 90 days, either he or I will be sitting in the Oval Office, and listen, here’s what we can imagine, right, we’ve all seen on TV — you’ve seen the Oval Office — just visually imagine what that day will be,” Harris said. “Because, if elected, Donald Trump on day one would walk into that office with an enemies list. When I am elected, I will walk in with a to-do list on behalf of you.”
The vice president told the crowd that people are “exhausted with Trump’s rhetoric.” She also appealed to female voters, criticizing Trump’s comments that he would “protect women” saying, “Trump does not respect the freedom of women.”
Harris’ Nevada rally was interrupted by protesters at times, but the vice president said it was “OK” and “we’re fighting for the right to be heard.”
Friday, Nov. 1, both candidates will hold rallies in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as the final weekend of the 2024 election cycle begins.
‘Avengers,’ LeBron endorse Harris; Jake Paul backs Trump
Some famous faces put their names behind their pick for president on Thursday. Members of the cast of Marvel’s “Avengers” film franchise assembled to show their support for Vice President Harris while YouTube star Jake Paul backed former president Trump.
Actors Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo and others gathered together in a social media video supporting Harris. NBA superstar LeBron James also backed Harris in a post on X saying, “When I think about my kids and my family and how they will grow up, the choice is clear to me. Vote Kamala Harris.”
Social media influencer turned boxer Jake Paul put his endorsement behind the Republican nominee. In a video posted to his YouTube channel, Paul laid out his reasons and asked his followers to do their own research.
“Regardless of your emotion, I’m just presenting you with facts,” he said. “Do I think Donald Trump is a perfect human being? No. I don’t think anybody on this planet is a perfect human being, myself included. To be frank, I’m not concerned with Donald Trump’s ‘character flaws’ or what he’s done in the past. What I’m concerned with is how good a president is he, because that is his job and that’s what’s going to affect the people of this nation.”
Why I Am Not Suspending My Campaign Let me be clear: Despite the immense pressures and intense assaults on my campaign and character, I intend to hold the torch and finish this race – to and after November 5th! The escalating corruption of the US political system and the… pic.twitter.com/CQrcOTX9vi
West accused the Pennsylvania secretary of state of improperly keeping him off the ballot for not filing all the required paperwork. The state’s top court agreed with the secretary of state, but a federal judge said while it does seem like Pennsylvania’s rules make it harder for third-party candidates to get on the ballot, it’s too close to Election Day to re-print ballots and re-test election machines without increasing the risk of error.
Flash floods claimed the lives of at least 158 people, with 155 deaths confirmed in the eastern Valencia region alone. Spain’s minister for territorial policy said Thursday dozens of people are still missing but they don’t have an exact number of how many.
Army specialist charged in female soldier’s murder at Missouri base
Her body was found in a dumpster at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri last week. Rancy, who’s with the 5th Engineer Battalion, is also charged with obstruction.
The Department of Army Criminal Investigation Division, which is the primary federal law enforcement agency of the United States Army, is overseeing the probe.
The department has not specified a motive for the killing. It is also unclear if Rancy and Roque knew each other.
OpenAI adds search and summary function to ChatGPT
Google has some new competition. OpenAI has added a search function to its artificial intelligence bot ChatGPT.
Paying subscribers are now able to activate a mode on ChatGPT that makes it respond to queries by searching the internet for the latest information and summarizing what it finds. The search capabilities are powered by Microsoft’s Bing search engine and will draw information from articles by publishers OpenAI has deals with, including The Wall Street Journal owner News Corp. and the Associated Press.
While this function is only for paying subscribers for now, OpenAI said it plans to bring search to all users eventually.
Trump, Harris could start White House transition at same time. Here’s how.
The 2024 presidential election is just days away now and once America chooses who our next leader will be, it’ll be 77 days until they officially take office. During that time, the winner will get their administration ready to take over from President Joe Biden’s.
What was historically a time of bipartisanship ended up being fraught with tension in 2020. That year, then-President Donald Trump and his allies fought to overturn the election results.
The group falsely claimed Biden’s win was stolen and delayed the transition. Now, a new law will start the transition between administrations sooner, no matter who wins.
That means there could potentially be two very different governments waiting in the wings for weeks to take over.
Before the 2022 Presidential Transition Improvement Act became law, the head of the General Services Administration (GSA) had to give the OK. In 2020, the administrator said she couldn’t do that because Trump was still challenging his loss in court.
The law effectively means the GSA no longer has to give the go-ahead before allowing the candidate or candidates to get transition support services.
It also states services for each candidate will continue until “significant legal challenges” have been “substantially resolved,” or electors from each state meet in mid-December to formally choose an Electoral College winner.
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon out of prison, legal trouble not over
With just one week until Election Day, Steve Bannon, the former Trump White House chief strategist and now podcaster, is a free man. Bannon was released from prison on Tuesday, Oct. 29, after serving a four-month sentence for defying a subpoena tied to an investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Bannon is reportedly scheduled to return to hosting his “War Room” podcast on Tuesday, Oct. 29. His return comes amid a neck-and-neck presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
Jurors convicted Bannon on two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with subpoenas from the U.S. House of Representatives committee dedicated to investigating the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Bannon still faces legal troubles even with his release. He pleaded not guilty to charges of money laundering, conspiracy and fraud related to accusations of defrauding donors for the “We Build the Wall” campaign.
He claimed the money would go to erecting a portion of the wall at the U.S. southern border. However, prosecutors argue Bannon used the funds to line his own pockets.
The former White House chief strategist was previously convicted in a similar case in 2020. However, he was pardoned by former President Donald Trump before he left office.
Before serving his sentence, Bannon asserted he was “proud to go to prison.” He also reportedly claimed there was “no chance” Democrats would win the upcoming election without “stealing it.”
He’s the second Trump White House aide to serve prison time for defying a Jan. 6, 2021, investigation subpoena. Jurors also found former White House official Peter Navarro guilty of contempt of U.S. Congress.
He served a four-month sentence and was released from prison in July. Navarro spoke at the Republican National Convention just hours after his release from prison.
S. Korea could deploy troops to Ukraine to help against N. Koreans: Report
South Korea could reportedly send troops and intelligence personnel to Ukraine following revelations North Korea may have deployed soldiers and plans to send thousands more to fight alongside Russian forces on the front lines of its war against Ukraine. South Korean media reported on Monday, Oct. 21, the military may send intelligence officers to provide information on Pyongyang’s military tactics, doctrine and operations.
South Korean personnel in Ukraine would potentially interrogate or interpret for North Korean soldiers if they were to be taken prisoner by Ukrainian forces.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry also acknowledged on Monday that it is considering sending weapons to Kyiv. Seoul has already helped Ukraine with humanitarian aid as the war has dragged on.
The reports come after South Korean intelligence says North Korea plans on sending 12,000 special forces to assist Russia. South Korea’s Defense Ministry said that it talked with the United States on Monday. The White House claimed it could not confirm reports of North Korean troops in Russia but says that it “would mark a dangerous development” in the war.
Pyongyang is neither denying nor confirming accusations of troops deployments in Russia.
The Kremlin on Monday refused to answer any questions about North Korean soldiers’ role in Russia’s war against Ukraine, saying, “We see a lot of contradictory information” from Seoul and the United States.
Tensions create fractured alliance among Biden, Harris staff: Report
Tensions are rising between the teams of Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden as the election approaches, according to an Axios report. Ten anonymous sources told Axios that Biden’s aides are struggling with their new supporting role after the president’s withdrawal from the race, creating friction between the two teams — something the White House denies.
Harris’ team expressed concerns about inadequate coordination from the White House regarding Biden’s messaging and schedule, believing this lack of alignment undermines her campaign efforts.
A notable incident occurred recently when Biden held an impromptu press conference just as Harris was set to speak in Michigan, potentially overshadowing her event. Similarly, as Harris appeared on “The View,” Biden held another press event simultaneously.
Additionally, when Harris criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for not taking her call ahead of Hurricane Milton — a claim DeSantis denies — public friction arose between Harris and DeSantis. Shortly after, Biden praised DeSantis, saying he had been in touch with the Florida governor. Axios sources said Biden was not briefed on Harris’ previous comments about DeSantis.
Staffers reported a public disconnect between the two camps regarding “Biden-Harris administration policy” and separating it from a “Harris-Walz administration” agenda. While Biden has praised a working economy under his leadership, economic concerns persist for many voters.
“The White House is lacking someone in the room thinking first and foremost about how things would affect the campaign,” a Harris campaign staffer said.
Before Biden dropped out of the race, his staff was skeptical about passing the torch to anyone.
“At the end of the day, we’d switch to candidates who would, according to polls, be less likely to win than Joe Biden—the only person ever to defeat Donald Trump,” Rob Flaherty, Biden’s deputy campaign manager, said.
The White House has dismissed the claims in the Axios report.
“President Biden endorsed Vice President Harris immediately after leaving the race, rejecting other approaches that would divide the party, and has attested to her leadership abilities and continually made clear his support for her,” a White House spokesperson said. “While ensuring that all critical White House functions are fully staffed, we have made significant changes to guarantee the vice president’s team has all of the support and resources that they need.”
According to Axios, mounting frustrations and tensions lie primarily between Harris and Biden’s senior-level staffers, but mid-level staff are reportedly working well together toward the shared goal of electing Harris in three weeks.
FBI background investigation into Brett Kavanaugh was a ‘sham’: Report
A new report found the Trump White House stonewalled the FBI when it was investigating sexual assault allegations against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The report from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., was released six years after Kavanaugh’s confirmation. Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings led to protests both inside and outside the Capitol building.
“This report shows that the supplemental background investigation was a sham, controlled by the Trump White House, to give political cover to Senate Republicans and put Justice Kavanaugh back on the political track to confirmation,” Whitehouse said in a statement.
Kavanaugh was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women during his confirmation process.
Dr. Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a high school party in the early 80’s. Ford said Kavanaugh locked her in a bedroom, climbed on top of her and attempted to remove her clothes. Deborah Ramirez said Kavanaugh drunkenly exposed himself during a dorm party.
Whitehouse’s report had four main findings:
The supplemental background investigation into allegations made by Ford and Ramirez were completely controlled by the Trump administration. Trump said the FBI had free rein to investigate whatever it thought was necessary, but this report says that was false.
The report said statements from the White House that the investigation was done “by the book” were misleading because the FBI typically follows step-by-step instructions from the White House when conducting those types of background checks.
The Trump White House instructed investigators to pursue only first-hand evidence and not corroborating evidence. The report said Senate Republicans then cited the lack of corroborating evidence to justify confirming Kavanaugh.
The report said the FBI’s public tip line investigation was fake and that no tip was ever investigated.
“The lack of FBI investigative standards helped the Trump White House thwart meaningful investigation of the allegations against Kavanaugh, denying Senators information needed to fulfill their constitutional duties,” Whitehouse stated.
Whitehouse called on the FBI to create protocols for background investigations so both senators and the American people know they’re getting real answers the next time serious allegations arise about a nominee.