What A Day

Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo made a bad “joke” yesterday that led many to believe Trump will continue to ignore the election results… which is making it harder for President-elect Joe Biden to begin the transition process. Trump’s lawsuits to challenge election results have been mostly unsuccessful and lacking in any evidence. We go through a few examples, as well as what comes next in the elect...

Pfizer says an initial analysis of their vaccine found it was more than 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19. President-elect Joe Biden announced his 13-member pandemic task force, which includes health experts that previously served in Republican and Democratic administrations. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell backed Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the election yesterday, wh...

The presidential race was called this weekend for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, leading to spontaneous celebrations across the country. Biden and Harris gave their first speeches as President-elect and Vice President-elect on Saturday night, reiterating their message of unity and sketching out a mandate that includes rooting out systemic racism, working towards and economic fairness, and tackling c...

A significant number of ballots were counted yesterday in states where races have been too close to call, leading to gains for Joe Biden in Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Georgia. At this point, Trump would need everything to break his way to win the election—and that doesn’t seem likely. Biden’s campaign continued to project confidence yesterday, while Trump did a press conference where he tried out e...

Joe Biden now has the most votes of any presidential candidate in history, and he’s won two more key states in his path to 270 electoral votes: Michigan and Wisconsin. We’re still waiting on calls in five battleground states: Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. We discuss where things stand, and how the two campaigns are responding. Spoiler alert: one is being dignified and...

Yesterday was Election Day, and it ended as we expected it to: without an official call on the presidential race. There wasn’t a Biden landslide like we hoped, but as we went to record last night, he still had a path to victory. We discuss that path, some surprising and less surprising calls, and how the two presidential candidates treated the results.  Looking at Congress, Democrats retained cont...

After four long hard years, we’ve made it to election day… now we just need to make it through the next 24, to 48, to 100-plus hours. We discuss when the results will come in and what we’ll be watching out for. Plus, a look at some key Senate races in states that could flip.  And in headlines: battleground states were hit hardest with misinformation, voter preferences by first name, and a whale st...

Over 93 million people have voted as of Sunday night. More than 8 million of those voters are doing so for the first time, according to the data firm TargetSmart. We talk to a group of first time voters about why they are participating this year, and why they’re choosing Biden. The US hit a new record high of Covid-19 cases last Friday — with many swing states hitting record highs as well. And the...

Another 5 million people cast ballots yesterday, bringing the vote total to over 80 million so far. We explain two recent Supreme Court decisions over voting rights in Pennsylvania and North Carolina… and what they could mean for the post-election count. The GDP went up by 7.4 percent in the third quarter, but the economy is still 3.5 percent smaller than it was pre-pandemic. Plus, we check in on...

COVID-19 numbers are up in the US, with more than 500,000 new cases over the past week. Trouble spots include El Paso, TX, where hospitals are stretched to capacity, plus the Dakotas, Wisconsin, and Montana. Europe is also seeing numbers spike, leading some countries to re-implement national shutdowns.  There are five days until election day, so we’re continuing to review notable ballot initiative...

With less than a week until November 3rd, almost 70 million people have already voted in this election as of last night, which is over half the total in 2016. We talk with Charlotte Swasey, the Vice President of polling at Data for Progress, about how things are looking for Biden, how to read the polls, and what results we may and may not get on Election night.  And in headlines: protests in Phill...

Amy Coney Barrett was officially confirmed as a Supreme Court justice, cementing a 6-3 conservative majority on the court. Barrett has not said whether she will recuse herself from cases having to do with this election… meanwhile, her confirmation has led even more moderate Democrats to warm up to the idea of court reform or expansion. Policing is on the ballot this year, with over 20 state and lo...

At least 5 aides of Mike Pence including his Chief of Staff have tested positive for Covid-19, but Pence still isn’t going to quarantine. The country is seeing record numbers of new cases, with over 85,000 new cases last Friday… that fits with a recent admission from White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that the federal government is “not going to control the pandemic.”  Over 59 million people...

Last night Biden and Trump faced off in the second and final presidential debate. It was less interrupt-y and the candidates discussed everything from the pandemic to climate change and racism. We break down what Biden and Trump had to say, and the biggest news leading into the night.  And in headlines: Remdesivir approved, Pompeo signs an anti-abortion declaration, and a beautiful green dog is bo...

The DOJ announced an $8.3 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma yesterday for illegally marketing their painkiller Oxycontin. The settlement doesn’t prevent members of the Sackler family, who own Purdue Pharma, from criminal liability and there is still a criminal case pending.  Protests continue in Nigeria against a notorious police unit called SARS, which has been accused of corruption, violence...

The Justice Department filed a major lawsuit against Google saying that the company is illegally trying to maintain its search dominance using anti-competitive practices. We look at what's the behind the case and what it could mean for Google. Trial volunteers in London will be deliberately infected with COVID-19 to aid in vaccine research starting in January, if a plan by researchers gets approva...

In the final two weeks before November 3rd, Trump has been criticizing his own public health experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci. Meanwhile, Biden and Harris have been defending scientists and their role in public policy. Federal prosecutors charged six men for some of the biggest, most notorious hacks in recent years, including the 2018 Winter Olympics hack and a 2017 hack on Ukraine. The hackers are...

In the US, we’re now seeing uncontrolled spread of coronavirus as parts of the country get colder and people prepare to gather for the holidays. On Friday, the CEO of Pfizer said his company won’t apply for emergency vaccine authorization until late November at the earliest, which appears to be the nail in the coffin for any vaccine getting approval by election day.  After SCOTUS ruled that Trump...

A new study shows eight million people have fallen into poverty since May, when the CARES Act money started running out, but lawmakers in Washington still can’t agree on a second relief bill. We review the current state of negotiations, and how the delay is affecting Americans in need.  Yesterday the Senate Judiciary Committee wrapped up their confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, wit...

Amy Coney Barrett appeared for her last day of Senate questioning yesterday and gave more evasive non-responses. Today is the final day of the hearings, and will feature witness testimony on Barrett’s nomination.  Brian Fallon is the executive director of Demand Justice, a group which pushes for progressive structural reforms and political hardball when it comes to the judiciary. We spoke to him a...

Yesterday was day two of Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearings, when members of the Senate Judiciary Committee got their first public chance to directly question the nominee. There were a lot of questions, but there weren’t many answers. Safety concerns led Johnson & Johnson to pause a large clinical trial of its COVID vaccine candidate and Eli Lilly to pause trials of their antibody drug....

Senate hearings began yesterday to consider Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Democrats tried to keep the focus on the Affordable Care Act, while Republicans treated the day like they were writing a profile of Barrett for a conservative version of Marie Claire.  With three weeks left until November 3rd, we look at recent polling, what it says about swing voters, and the st...

Senate confirmation hearings begin today for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, Trump's Supreme Court nominee. The president is scheduled to return to the campaign trail today just over a week after being hospitalized with COVID-19, after his doctor released a memo saying he’s no longer contagious, but providing no other information.  Daily new cases of COVID-19 in the US are creeping above 50,000, which is...

Thirteen men were charged yesterday in connection to an alleged violent plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. This is unsurprising when you consider Trump’s “LIBERATE MICHIGAN” tweets from earlier in the year that encouraged armed protestors to mount anti-government and anti-COVID restriction rallies.  The fate of next week’s debate is in question after an extended back-and-forth betw...

Last night was the first and only vice presidential debate, with Senator Kamala Harris and VP Mike Pence facing off. Their conversation covered police killings of Black Americans, Trump’s response to the pandemic, Roe v. Wade, and more. We discuss a debate that was a lot more measured than the last one, but still very frustrating.  Trump went back to the Oval Office yesterday and released another...