Biden begins transition plans as Trump refuses to concede

By Melissa Macaya, Melissa Mahtani and Veronica Rocha, CNN

Updated 10:00 p.m. ET, November 12, 2020
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11:41 a.m. ET, November 12, 2020

White House national security adviser tells staff to focus on their jobs and let electoral process play out

From CNN's Vivian Salama

National security adviser Robert O'Brien attends a Veterans Day wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on November 11.
National security adviser Robert O'Brien attends a Veterans Day wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on November 11. Patrick Semansky/AP

National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien has informally told staff that they should focus on their jobs and let the electoral process, vote counting and legal battles, play themselves out, according to one administration official.

While O’Brien has not held a traditional "all hands" meeting with the entire staff, nor has he issued any written guidelines about how to proceed now that the race was called for President-Elect Joe Biden, he has been telling the heads of certain NSC directorates to keep working as though there’s been no change. 

Privately, officials tell CNN that O’Brien, who was a national security attorney prior to joining the administration, recognizes that the President’s path to victory is narrow, and is committed to holding a professional transition, but he cannot officially greenlight any transition activities – even preliminary outreach to Biden counterparts – until the President is ready to concede or the General Services Administration grants Biden ascertainment.

11:28 a.m. ET, November 12, 2020

Trump allies mocked Democrats as "sore losers" in 2016 for not accepting election results

From CNN's KFile team Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck

Top Donald Trump campaign and White House officials continue to baselessly assert there was widespread election fraud in the 2020 election. They are currently refusing to acknowledge President-elect Joe Biden's victory, despite having mocked Democrats who didn't accept Trump's victory four years ago as "sore losers."

"You have people trying to delegitimize the President-elect of the United States right now," Kayleigh McEnany, then a CNN contributor – now White House press secretary – said in November 2016.

"You have people out there that are calling for recounts that are unsubstantiated based on no evidence," McEnany said in 2016.

A reminder: In 2016, Trump's allies routinely attacked recount efforts that they said were "based on no evidence" and were designed to "delegitimize" his 2016 victory. They also commended President Barack Obama and administration officials for accepting the results of the election. The comments were made in response to protests against Trump's victory, recount efforts sponsored by the Green Party and candidate Jill Stein, and efforts to persuade Electoral College voters to vote against Trump.

Here's some of what Trump's key allies said about the election outcome in 2016:

Kellyanne Conway

Conway, now the President's adviser and then-campaign manager, hit Democrats over recount efforts when speaking with "Meet the Press" in late November 2016.

"There's a respect there. And there is a respect for the process and the peaceful transition of power, which is why this recount by Jill Stein and now the Hillary (Clinton) people just is so confounding and disappointing. Their president, Barack Obama, is going to be in office for eight more weeks," Conway said. "They have to decide whether they're going to interfere with him finishing his business, interfere with the peaceful transition, transfer of power to President-elect Trump and Vice-President-elect Pence, or if they're going to be a bunch of crybabies and sore losers about an election they can't turn around."

Kayleigh McEnany

McEnany attacked people who called for recount efforts as trying to delegitimize the President-elect on CNN Tonight in late November 2016

On the same day, McEnany commended Obama for accepting the results of the 2016 election and working with President-elect Trump during the transition, even calling Obama a "hero."

"We're commending the people who have put feelings aside and done what's for the betterment of the country and that's President Obama," she said. "Who put out a statement when this all was going on saying, 'Look, we believe the vote represents the voice of the American people.' And he has acted like a gracious, really hero in all of this, the way he's accepted this and moved on."

In December 2016, McEnany said it was "inexcusable" to "question the legitimacy of the election" after Obama said there was no widespread fraud, and it was a legitimate election.

Rudy Giuliani

The former New York City mayor and personal attorney to Trump called anti-Trump protesters "a bunch of spoiled crybabies" in November 2016 after Trump's victory.

"The reality is they are a bunch of spoiled crybabies. And – and somebody said– I think I heard somebody said we're bringing up a generation of spoiled crybabies. Most of the kids aren't crying. Most of the kids are going to class," he said on Fox News.

On ABC News, Giuliani later called on Obama and Clinton to "say something about this" to anti-Trump protesters because it is "really not the right thing in a democracy." He further suggested that some might be "professional protesters."

Matt Schlapp

Schlapp, the Trump ally who is chairman of the American Conservative Union, said in early December 2016 on Fox Business that Clinton was on her "sore loser tour" and that she needed to "get out of the way" to allow Trump to become president.

"Hillary is on her sore loser tour. It started at Harvard where the Hillary campaign blamed everybody for Hillary's lost. And now we have her going through recounts. You know what she needs to do? She needs to get over it. She lost. Get out of the way and let Donald Trump be President," Schlapp said.

Clinton conceded the 2016 election to Trump on election night and delivered a concession speech the following day.

Back to today: Many of those same allies are now bolstering Trump's baseless and dangerous claim that the election is being stolen out from under him, despite no evidence of widespread voting fraud.

The aides continue to feed into Trump's delusion about winning the election and continue to work on his behalf to file longshot legal and recount efforts, despite a widening vote count in key battleground states in favor of Biden.

You can read more of what Trump's key allies said in 2016 here.

11:27 a.m. ET, November 12, 2020

McConnell won’t answer if President-elect Biden should get classified briefings

From CNN's Ted Barrett, Alison Main and Caroline Kelly

Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declined to respond to a question about whether President-elect Joe Biden should receive classified briefings as he went to the floor.  

CNN's Manu Raju reported moments earlier that Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley told CNN that President-elect Joe Biden should have access to classified briefings to prepare for the transition.

Remember: Biden and his senior advisers are not yet receiving the President's Daily Brief, the highly classified intelligence briefings about pressing national security issues that their soon-to-be predecessor has been offered daily.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said Monday that Biden's lack of access stems from the election being not yet ascertained by the General Services Administration — a clear indication that the Biden transition team is not getting the same briefings that presidents-elect typically receive.

It remains unclear whether the race needs to be ascertained before the President-elect can legally receive the briefings. Biden has said that the daily briefings "would be useful, but it's not necessary."

11:26 a.m. ET, November 12, 2020

Biden should have access to classified briefings, GOP Sen. Grassley says

From CNN's Manu Raju

Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images
Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, who as president pro tempore is the most senior Republican in the Senate, told CNN that President-elect Joe Biden should have access to classified briefings to prepare for the transition. 

“I would think —especially on classified briefings — the answer is yes,” Grassley said.

It comes after Sen. James Lankford made a similar comment — and other prominent Republicans have signaled it’s time to begin the transition process.

Asked if the General Services Administration should sign off on the requisite paperwork to allow for the transition to take place, Grassley said that “we ought to do what we did” after the contested 2000 election.

Reminded that the 9/11 report warned that the shortened transition period contributed to the lack of preparedness, Grassley said: “Well, I still would just stick by what I said whatever was done in 2000 ought to be done again.”

11:17 a.m. ET, November 12, 2020

Do not expect Trump to make any public moves on acknowledging loss until after Georgia recount, source says

From CNN's Dana Bash and Jeff Zeleny

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

A source familiar with President Trump's thinking says that now Georgia is doing a hand recount do not expect the President to make any public moves towards stating the obvious — that he lost — until at least that’s done.

The Georgia deadline is Nov. 20. 

The next date to watch is Nov 23 — which is the deadline for Michigan and Pennsylvania to certify their results by each state’s law.

Additionally, a top Senate GOP official tells CNN this morning that Republican leadership has told senators they expect this to not drag on “no more than another week.”

But, of course, they don’t know that with any certainty.

Remember: Major new organizations, including CNN, projected Biden will win the presidential election on Saturday. CNN President Trump has launched a series of legal challenges to the results and has not yet conceded to Biden.

There has been no evidence of widespread voting fraud despite Trump's claims.

11:13 a.m. ET, November 12, 2020

Diplomats unclear on what to tell allies as Trump refuses to concede

From CNN's Kylie Atwood and Jennifer Hansler

As President Trump refuses to acknowledge Joe Biden's presidential election victory, he has put American diplomats in an awkward and untenable position — leaving them confused about what they can say to foreign counterparts about the election results and distressed about the possibility of waning global confidence in American democracy.

As of Monday night, the State Department had not provided diplomats with guidance for how to discuss the election results, five US diplomats told CNN.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo further complicated the matter on Tuesday when he refused to acknowledge Biden's win and when asked if the State Department would cooperate with Biden's transition, said that "there will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration."

Two US diplomats said they had been looking forward to hearing Pompeo speak in the hope that it would give them a sense of how to discuss the election results. But Pompeo's comments instead drew outrage and confusion from US diplomats who argue that they further undermine US credibility.

"I am sick," said one US diplomat overseas. "How dare he undermine our work."

"How can he be serious?" said another US diplomat. "This is actually incredibly scary."

Traditionally, the secretary of state congratulates the President-elect and sends department-wide notes committing the department to a constructive transfer of power.

Since CNN protected that Biden won the presidential election, US diplomats had asked the State Department for clarity but they have not received any guidance, four diplomats told CNN prior to Pompeo's remarks.

Read more here.

11:00 a.m. ET, November 12, 2020

Biden transition team undeterred and "moving full speed ahead"

From CNN's MJ Lee 

Angela Weiss/Pool/AFP/Getty Images
Angela Weiss/Pool/AFP/Getty Images

Five days after the 2020 election was called, the sitting President is still refusing to concede the race to President-elect Joe Biden.

For now, Biden’s transition team is continuing try to project a sense of focus and calm: the transition is “moving full speed ahead” and nothing is going to take them off that track, one transition official tells CNN this morning. 

They point to the White House chief of staff announcement from last night, the unveiling of the agency review teams and the continued readout of phone calls with foreign leaders (despite not getting any coordination from the State Department as they should be at this moment in the transition,) as all a clear sign that they are marching towards Jan. 20, regardless of what noise the President and his allies are making. 

They also say that all of the advanced planning that they did prior to Election Day was meant for them to be prepared for "any and all circumstances."

As far as the comment from Republican Sen. Lankford that he is willing to intervene if Biden still isn’t receiving presidential daily briefings by tomorrow, this transition official says the only deadline that they’re focused on right now is Jan. 20.

11:54 a.m. ET, November 12, 2020

CNN has not yet projected a winner in 3 states. Here's where the vote count stands in each of them.

From CNN's Ethan Cohen and Liz Stark

CNN has not yet projected a winner in Arizona, Georgia or North Carolina.

Major new organizations, including CNN, projected on Saturday that Biden will win the presidential election and he already has the more than the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.

Here's a breakdown of where the vote count stands in these three states as of 8 a.m. ET:

Arizona - Current state-wide vote count: Biden: 1,663,447; Trump: 1,651,812 

  • As of Thursday morning, there are under 25,000 ballots left to be counted, according to the Secretary of State’s website. This includes more than 2,700 that haven’t been signature-verified; some of those likely will wind up not being counted.
  • In Maricopa County (Arizona’s largest county which includes Phoenix) Biden’s lead decreased to 44,673 over Trump. Biden: 1,038,364; Trump: 993,691
  • Maricopa County said it will report additional results Thursday and expects to complete counting all ballots this week. The county said Wednesday evening in a press release they have: 
  • Estimated early ballots left to process and tabulate: 2,498
  • Estimated number of early ballots left to verify: 1,100
  • Provisional Ballot Totals: 18,404
  • Valid and will be counted: 6,078 (5,209 included in Wednesday's results)
  • Invalid and will not be counted: 10,078
  • Estimated provisional ballots left to verify: 2,248

Georgia - Current state-wide vote count: Biden: 2,471,981; Trump: 2,457,924.

  • Joe Biden’s lead in Georgia is now at 14,057 votes, down ever-so-slightly from 14,093 Wednesday afternoon. 
  • 101 counties (63.5%) have certified their results, including Gwinnett County. DeKalb County will certify Thursday. Fulton (which includes Atlanta) and Cobb counties will certify Friday (the deadline for all counties to certify their votes.)
  • Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced Wednesday that there will be a full hand recount of the presidential race in the state.
  • Importantly, Raffensperger said the recount won’t delay certification of the presidential results in Georgia, which has a Nov. 20 certification deadline.
  • The recount will occur under the framework of a routine post-election audit, Raffensperger said. Because of the narrow margin, officials will re-check every ballot cast in the presidential race across the entire state as part of the audit. Typically, audits like these only examine a small sample of the votes.
  • Because the recount is being conducted as part of the audit process, Trump can request another recount after this one is completed, Raffensperger said.

North Carolina - Current state-wide vote count: Trump: 2,736,881; Biden: 2,663,605

  • No new votes have been reported in North Carolina since CNN's last update. With about 98% of the expected vote counted, Donald Trump is up 73,276 votes, a lead that’s sizable but slowly shrinking. 
  • Today is the deadline for ballots to be received as long as they were postmarked by election day. 
  • Approximately 24,300 absentee ballots that have been received by counties after Election Day could be added to the results
  • Many North Carolina counties are scheduled to hold meetings today to consider and count absentee ballots. 
  • Approximately 20,140 provisional ballots haven’t already been disqualified and could also be counted, although more could be disqualified as counties continue to investigate them. 

Based on the races CNN has called, this is where the electoral college currently stands:

Joe Biden has 279 electoral college votes to Donald Trump's 217. Based on Biden's lead in Arizona (11 votes) and Georgia (16 votes), he could end up with 306 electoral college votes.

10:50 a.m. ET, November 12, 2020

These are the climate executive actions Biden says he will take on day one

From CNN's Kate Sullivan

Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

President-elect Joe Biden is planning a flurry of executive actions when he takes office on Jan. 20, and many focus on combating the global climate crisis.

Biden's legislative agenda on climate will largely depend on whether Democrats gain control of the US Senate, which will be decided in two run-off elections in Georgia taking place on January 5.

But regardless of which party controls the Senate, Biden has pledged to sign a series of executive orders, which do not require congressional approval.

Here are some of the executive actions Biden has said he will take on his first day as president:

  • Require limits on methane pollution for oil and gas operations.
  • Use the federal government procurement system to work towards 100% clean energy and zero-emissions vehicles.
  • Ensure US government buildings and facilities are more efficient and climate-ready.
  • Implement the already-existing Clean Air Act, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation by developing new fuel economy standards to ensure all new sales for light- and medium-duty vehicles will be electrified, and annual improvements for heavy duty vehicles.
  • Double down on liquid fuels like advanced biofuels and make agriculture a key part of the solution to the climate crisis.
  • Reduce emissions and cut consumer costs through new standards for appliance and building efficiency.
  • Require federal permit decisions to consider effects of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, and ensure every federal infrastructure investment reduces climate pollution.
  • Require public companies to disclose climate risks and greenhouse gas emissions in their operations and supply chains.
  • Protect biodiversity, slow extinction rates and conserve 30% of America's lands and waters by 2030.

Read more here.