Trump's former top economic adviser congratulates Biden and Harris
From CNN's Jeremy Diamond
Gary Cohn attends a meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, in 2018. Kevin Dietsch/Pool/Getty Images
President Donald Trump's former top economic adviser Gary Cohn on Sunday evening congratulated President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their victory.
"Congrats to President-elect @joebiden and Vice President-elect @kamalaharris. I wish them great success in leading our country. With over 145M votes cast, both campaigns should be applauded for getting an unprecedented number of citizens engaged in the democratic process," Cohn wrote on Twitter.
A former Goldman Sachs executive, Cohn was the director of the White House's National Economic Council. He resigned in March 2018 after disagreeing with Trump's decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Cohn, a Democrat, told CNBC in September that he was undecided about voting for Trump's reelection.
4:24 p.m. ET, November 8, 2020
Nevada's Clark County is still counting ballots and expects to have total count by Wednesday
From CNN’s Artemis Moshtaghian
A Clark County election worker scans mail-in ballots on November 7 in North Las Vegas, Nevada. Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Clark County, Nevada, processed 23,000 mail-in ballots through its system on Saturday and have a balance of a little over 16,000 mail-in ballots to count as of Sunday, County Registrar Joe Gloria said in a news conference today.
“I remind the public that there are still outstanding ballots in different areas,” Gloria said.
A large staff is working on, going through and counting provisional ballots, then same-day registration ballots and then in-person and online ballots, Gloria said.
He said that he expects a full statewide ballot count by Wednesday, saying that the secretary of state told him that election officials are expecting all ballot counts from Clark County Registrar’s office by Monday.
“On Monday, once they get that, they’ll be able to take the records from all 16 other counties in Nevada and begin to prepare the report that we need to see so that we have the ability to get those ballots counted and into the system. Hopefully by sometime on Wednesday,” Gloria said.
Gloria said that his office is also working on ballot curing and those numbers are not included in the report that is expected to be released by his office later Sunday.
By the numbers: The latest presidential vote count in Nevada shows President-elect Joe Biden as having 53.87% of the vote and President Trump as having 44.2% of the vote.
CNN has projected Joe Biden as having won Nevada.
3:05 p.m. ET, November 8, 2020
Here are the votes left to count in Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania
From CNN's Austen Bundy
Members of the Gwinnett County adjudication review panel look over ballots on November 8 in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Jessica McGowan/Getty Images
There are thousands of vote left to count in key battleground states.
Here's where each of them stand.
Arizona
Joe Biden's lead has decreased to 18,553 votes as more votes have come in.
Maricopa County (the state’s largest, which includes Phoenix) released new numbers at 6 p.m. ET. As of 11:12 a.m. yesterday, Maricopa County had an estimated 44,000 ballots left to count (23,761 early left to count, 15,000 provisional and 5,000 early left to verify)
As of 10:58 a.m. yesterday, Pinal County still had 21,000 early ballots left to count (including 1,800 provisional ballots).
Georgia
Joe Biden has increased his lead in the state to 10,196. Counties still have outstanding ballots, including military, that need to be tabulated.
Fulton County (which includes Atlanta) discovered an issue involving reporting from their work on Friday. Officials on Saturday re-scanned ballots. About 5% of ballots are left to count. Officials released updated numbers overnight.
In Gwinnett County, as of Saturday evening, there were a total of 535 absentee ballots, 965 provisional ballots and three military ballots left to be reviewed after a software glitch continued to hamper counting.
Pennsylvania
Joe Biden's lead has grown to 42,818 votes as updated results (primarily regarding mail-in ballots that arrived after Nov. 3 but were post-stamped and segregated by court order) are pending litigation in state court and in the Supreme Court.
The state website said there are 55,962 votes to be counted.
As of this afternoon, the website says the following counties have outstanding votes to count:
Allegheny County (which includes Pittsburgh): 12,042 votes left
Philadelphia: 11,131
2:24 p.m. ET, November 8, 2020
Jill Biden is "enormously grateful" to the country, spokesperson says
From CNN's Sarah Mucha
Jill Biden speaks during a campaign rally at Heinz Field on November 2 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Andrew Harnik/AP
Jill Biden "is enormously grateful" to Americans for electing her husband Joe as president-elect, according to a statement from spokesperson Michael LaRosa.
"Joe Biden will be a president for all Americans. She is spending time with her children and grandchildren in Wilmington, Delaware. Dr. Biden is focused on building her team and developing her priorities focused on education, military families and veterans, and cancer," LaRosa said.
1:57 p.m. ET, November 8, 2020
Melania Trump makes first public statement on the election
From CNN's Kate Bennett
Melania Trump has made her first public statement regarding the election, echoing sentiments from her husband that votes should still be counted.
"The American people deserve fair elections. Every legal — not illegal — vote should be counted. We must protect our democracy with complete transparency," the first lady wrote on Twitter.
Some more context: CNN reported earlier today that privately, the first lady has told the President to accept the loss, according to a source familiar with her conversations.
1:28 p.m. ET, November 8, 2020
Biden will take office at the "apex" of the pandemic, says former FDA commissioner
From CNN's Lauren Mascarenhas
President-elect Joe Biden will take office at the “apex” of the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, said Sunday.
“The reality is that by the time the President-elect takes office, we’ll probably be at the sort of apex, if you will, of what we're going through right now,” Gottlieb said Sunday on CBS. "As the president takes office, we’ll be coming down the other side of the epidemic curve, hopefully, and the only question is going to be how many people have died in the course of this and how many people have been infected."
Gottlieb emphasized the importance of ensuring adequate supplies, including testing equipment, personal protective equipment and, potentially, vaccines.
“This isn't going to be over in 2021,” he said. “I think 2021 will be much better than this year, but you still want to make sure you have adequate supplies as you come down that epidemic curve and head into the fall.”
12:51 p.m. ET, November 8, 2020
Former President George W. Bush calls Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to congratulate them
Former President George W. Bush speaks during the funeral service of the late Rep. John Lewis at Ebenezer Baptist Church on July 30, in Atlanta, Georgia. Alyssa Pointer/Getty Images
Former President George W. Bush said he called Joe Biden on Sunday to congratulate him on his victory.
“I extended my warm congratulations and thanked him for the patriotic message he delivered last night," Bush said in a statement. "I also called Kamala Harris to congratulate her on her historic election to the vice presidency. Though we have political differences, I know Joe Biden to be a good man, who has won his opportunity to lead and unify our country. The President-elect reiterated that while he ran as a Democrat, he will govern for all Americans. I offered him the same thing I offered Presidents Trump and Obama: my prayers for his success, and my pledge to help in any way I can."
Bush said he congratulated President Trump on the campaign he waged.
“I want to congratulate President Trump and his supporters on a hard-fought campaign. He earned the votes of more than 70 million Americans – an extraordinary political achievement. They have spoken, and their voices will continue to be heard through elected Republicans at every level of government,” Bush said.
12:14 p.m. ET, November 8, 2020
Biden to announce coronavirus task force as global cases surpass 50 million
From CNN's Dan Merica and Jeff Zeleny
Joe Biden pledged throughout his presidential campaign to take the coronavirus seriously, and days into his presidential transition, he will take the first steps to make good on that promise.
Biden will announce a 12-person coronavirus-task force on Monday, two sources with knowledge told CNN. The announcement is meant to signify how seriously the president-elect plans to focus on a pandemic that has reached a record number of daily infections in the last week.
The task force will be headed by three cochairs: former surgeon general Vivek Murthy, former Food and Drug Administration commissioner David Kessler and Yale University's Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith. The additional members are due to be announced on Monday.
The number of coronavirus cases around the world has passed 50 million, according to data from John Hopkins University on Sunday.
The country with the highest number of infections during the pandemic remains the United States, followed by India, Brazil, Russia and then France.
11:25 a.m. ET, November 8, 2020
House minority leader echoes Trump's "legal votes" claim
From CNN's Kristin Wilson
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., gives his assessment of the GOP's performance in the election as he speaks with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, on Wednesday, November 4. J. Scott Applewhite/AP
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy went on Fox News this morning to echo what the President has been saying about “legal” votes needing to be counted and that the election isn’t over yet.
“What we need in the presidential race is to make sure every legal vote is counted, every recount is completed, and every legal challenge should be heard,” he said. “Then and only then that America will decide who won the race. “
McCarthy also suggested that it’s still possible for Republicans to take the majority in the House, saying that “we are less than 21,000 votes away.”
“There are a number of seats – 10 seats that are still sitting out there. Republicans are leading in three, they haven't called any of those, so why would you call the presidential race first?” he said.
McCarthy pointed to Democrats not being able to regain control of the Senate, losing seats in the House, and losing three state legislatures as grounds to press forward on a recount and challenge to the presidential race.
“We’ve had the most competitive presidential race in our modern history. That's why every vote should be counted, every recount to go forward, and every challenge should be heard. Because if it's still good to keep going on these congressional seats and bring them out, I think we should actually do that as well for the highest office in the land," he added.
