Updates following Joe Biden’s win over Donald Trump

NOVEMBER 8

(WJW) — Saturday, Joe Biden became president-elect. Today, President Donald Trump has still not conceded the race and ballot counts continue throughout the country.

10:50 p.m. update:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington Nationals are making their pitch to President-elect Joe Biden. The Nats have invited Biden to toss out the ceremonial first ball next season on opening day. Washington is scheduled to host the Mets at Nationals Park on April 1. Biden last threw out a first ball as vice president, in 2009 when the Baltimore Orioles hosted the New York Yankees on opening day at Camden Yards. William Howard Taft began the tradition of presidents throwing out the first pitch in Washington in 1910. Since then, every sitting president except Donald Trump has thrown out a first pitch when Washington had a major league franchise.

9:30 p.m. update:

MEXICO CITY (AP) — There were two notable holdouts among the world leaders who rushed to congratulate Joe Biden on his victory in the U.S. elections: the leaders of Latin America’s two biggest countries, both of whom have been seen as friendly to President Donald Trump. President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil is sometimes dubbed “the Trump of the Tropics” for his populist, off-the-cuff style, and he’s kept silent on Trump’s loss. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador refused to congratulate Biden thus far, saying he would wait until legal challenges are resolved. While their motives may be quite different, both leaders faced criticism at home for their stance.

8:30 p.m. update:

NEW YORK (AP) — The messages in Christian houses of worship on the first weekend since the election have been as divided as the country’s electorate. Religious leaders are mostly calling for peace and unification, though some bemoaned the result and others celebrated. Hours after the news broke Saturday, St. Joseph on the Brandywine Deacon Michael Stankewicz led a prayer during afternoon Mass at President-elect Joe Biden’s home church in Wilmington, Delaware. He asked “that our newly elected officials lead with wisdom and integrity to bring about unity, peace and reconciliation in our country and around the world.”

7:10 p.m. update:

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan group from the last three White Houses is urging the Trump administration to move forward “to immediately begin the post-election transition process.”

The call from the Center for Presidential Transition advisory board comes as the General Services Administration has yet to formally recognize Democrat Joe Biden as the president-elect. That’s a necessary move to free up money for the transition and clear the way for Biden’s team to begin putting in place the transition process at agencies.

“This was a hard-fought campaign, but history is replete with examples of presidents who emerged from such campaigns to graciously assist their successors,” members of the advisory board said in a statement.

The statement was signed by Bush White House chief of staff Josh Bolten and Health and Human Services secretary Michael Leavitt as well as Bill Clinton-era chief of staff Thomas “Mack” McLarty and Obama Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.

6:40 p.m. update:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Several Trump senior officials, campaign aides and allies are telling The Associated Press that the campaign’s legal strategy to challenge President-elect Joe Biden’s victory is more about providing President Donald Trump with an off-ramp for a loss he can’t quite grasp and less about changing the election’s outcome. The AP spoke with 10 people who were not authorized to discuss the subject publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Trump has promised legal action in the coming days as he refused to concede his loss to Biden. But Trump aides and allies acknowledge privately the legal fights would — at best — forestall the inevitable.

6 p.m. update:

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson has denied that his close ties to President Donald Trump will hurt U.K.-U.S relations once President-elect Joe Biden takes office in January. Johnson has congratulated Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their victory and said the two countries’ “common global perspective” will be vital to shore up a rules-based global order. Johnson, who has yet to speak to Biden, told The Associated Press on Sunday that “the United States is our closest and most important ally” and insisted that would not change. Johnson said he looked forward to working with Biden on “crucial” issues such as climate change, trade and international security.

5 p.m. update:

NORTH LAS VEGAS (WJW) — Donald Trump’s campaign held a press conference outside of the Clark County Election Department this afternoon to discuss the election. The Associated Press called the state of Nevada for President-elect Biden. The AP has yet to call a winner in two states, North Carolina and Georgia.

4 p.m. update:

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Joe Biden is signaling that he plans to move quickly to build out his government. The first focus for the president-election is the coronavirus pandemic that will likely dominate the early days of his administration. Biden has named a former surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, and a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, David Kessler, as co-chairs of the coronavirus working group. Other members are expected to be announced Monday. Transition team officials say Biden this week will also launch his agency review teams. They’re the transition staffers with access to key agencies in the current administration to help smooth the transfer of power.

2:10 p.m. update:

(WJW)– President Donald Trump took to Twitter Sunday afternoon to criticize the media over calling the election in favor of Joe Biden.

2:05 p.m. update:

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Joe Biden is signaling that he plans to move quickly to build out his government. The first focus for the president-election is the coronavirus pandemic that will likely dominate the early days of his administration. Biden has named a former surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, and a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, David Kessler, as co-chairs of the coronavirus working group. Other members are expected to be announced Monday. Transition team officials say Biden this week will also launch his agency review teams. They’re the transition staffers with access to key agencies in the current administration to help smooth the transfer of power.

1:30 p.m. update:

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia stands on the cusp of delivering 16 electoral votes to President-elect Joe Biden and will welcome the nation’s attention for another round of campaigning as two U.S. Senate seats head to Jan. 5 runoffs that are likely to determine control of the chamber for the first two years of Biden’s presidency. Stacey Abrams is getting plenty of the credit. Georgia had long been on the cusp of becoming a battleground state. But Abrams accelerated the timeline with her 2018 campaign for governor. Her near miss left in place a campaign infrastructure and proved to Democratic donors, volunteers and voters that it was possible to win in the growing, diversifying Deep South state.

12:55 p.m.:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President George W. Bush says the American people “can have confidence that this election was fundamentally fair, its integrity will be upheld, and its outcome is clear.”

He says in a statement that “no matter how you voted, your vote counted.” And Bush says President Donald Trump has the right to request recounts and pursue legal challenges, with any unresolved issues to be “properly adjudicated.”

Bush says now is the time when “we must come together for the sake of our families and neighbors, and for our nation and its future.”

Bush says he’s spoken with Joe Biden and thanked the president-elect for what Bush says was “the patriotic message” in Biden’s national address on Saturday night after being declared the election winner.

Bush says in a statement that while he and Biden have political differences, the former president says he knows Biden “to be good man who has won his opportunity to lead and unify our country.”

12:15 p.m. update:

(AP) — Joe Biden began his first full day as president-elect the same way he does nearly every Sunday, heading to church near his home.

Biden entered St. Joseph on the Brandywine in Wilmington, Delaware, shortly after the start of 10:30 a.m. Mass. He typically arrives a bit late and leaves a few minutes early so the presence of Secret Service agents doesn’t bother other attendees.

It felt like any other Sunday, except for a huge swarm of media camped near the church entrance — having anticipated Biden’s arrival.

Biden entered with his daughter, Ashley, and his grandson, Hunter, the son of the president-elect’s late son, Beau, a former Delaware attorney general.

Biden has no other public events on his schedule but is expected to swiftly move to begin appointing key members of his team for the transition to the White House, including a chief of staff.

11:30a.m. update:

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Joe Biden’s top priority in the transition is expected to be quickly naming a chief of staff. Biden suggested during the campaign that his first call after being elected would be to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, but his advisers have not said whether the two have spoken yet.

Biden said Saturday that he would announce a task force of scientists and experts Monday to develop a “blueprint” to begin beating back the virus by the time he assumes the presidency. He said his plan would be “built on bedrock science” and “constructed out of compassion, empathy and concern.” A former surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, and a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, David Kessler, will lead the task force.

This coming week, Biden will launch his agency review teams — the group of transition staffers that have access to key agencies in the current administration to smooth the transfer of power. The teams will collect and review information such as budgetary and staffing decisions, pending regulations and other work in progress from current staff at the departments to help Biden’s team prepare to transition.

10 a.m. update:

(WJW)– President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris launched a website for their transition to the White House. It outlines the administrations initial plans for COVID-19, the economy and racial inequality.

9:50 a.m. update:

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson says Britain and the United States will work together to support democracy and combat climate change. He denies that his close ties to President Donald Trump would hurt U.K.-U.S relations once President-elect Joe Biden takes office in January. Johnson congratulated Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their victory and said the two countries’ “common global perspective” would be vital to shore up a rules-based global order. Johnson, who has yet to speak to Biden, said “the United States is our closest and most important ally” and insisted that would not change. Johnson told The Associated Press he looked forward to working with Biden on “crucial” issues such as climate change, trade and international security.

8:55 a.m. update:

(WJW)– President Donald Trump tweeted a quote from attorney Jonathan Turley, questioning the validity of mail-in ballots in Philadelphia and Detroit.