U.S. officials plan to release 6.4 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in first distribution
November 24th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. officials said on Tuesday they plan to release 6.4 million COVID-19 vaccine doses nationwide in an initial distribution after the first one is cleared by regulators for emergency use. Officials from the government’s Operation Warp Speed program told reporters that states and other jurisdictions had been...
First Americans could get COVID-19 vaccine by mid-December, top health official says
November 22nd, 20200 The first Americans could receive a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as 24 hours after the FDA grants approval, which would kick off the largest inoculation campaign in U.S. history starting in mid-December. “Within 24 hours from the approval, the vaccine will be moving and located in the areas where each state will have told us where they...
Trump continues desperate assault on Michigan election
November 20th, 20200 In yet another desperate move to overturn election results in Michigan, President Trump invited Michigan Senate Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and House Speaker Lee Chatfield to the White House on Friday. Though the contents of what will be discussed at the meeting were not announced, it is clear that certification of statewide...
Future of American democracy: On inequality, polarization and violence
November 18th, 20200 In January 2017, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)’s Democracy Index downgraded the state of democracy in the United States from “full democracy” to “flawed democracy.” The demotion of a country that has constantly prided itself, not only on being democratic but also on championing democracy throughout the world, took...
Netanyahu has “warm” convo with Biden, calls him “president-elect”
November 17th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Joe Biden had a “warm conversation” with Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu over the phone on Tuesday. Netanyahu referred to Biden as president-elect in a statement after the talk. Netanyahu had acknowledged and congratulated Biden’s electoral victory early on, but had refrained from calling him president-elect...
Trump asked for options for attacking Iran last week, but held off
November 16th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Trump, with two months left in office, asked for options on attacking Iran’s main nuclear site last week, but ultimately decided against taking the dramatic step, a U.S. official said on Monday. Trump made the request during an Oval Office meeting on Thursday with his top national security aides,...
We can stop COVID-19: Moderna vaccine success gives world more hope
November 16th, 20200 Moderna Inc’s experimental vaccine is 94.5 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 based on interim data from a late-stage trial, the company said on Monday, becoming the second U.S. drugmaker to report results that far exceed expectations. Together with Pfizer Inc’s vaccine, which is also more than 90 percent effective, and...
Recounts, outstanding votes, lawsuits unlikely to help Trump flip results
November 13th, 20200 More than a week after Nov. 3 elections, the campaign of President Trump has yet to accept results, particularly from battleground states where his opponent, Joe Biden, has been projected to be the winner. An ABC News analysis shows that Biden’s total lead in those states ensures that any of the strategies employed by the campaign...
While Trump refuses to concede, prominent Republicans acknowledge his election defeat
November 13th, 20200 By Thursday evening, the likelihood of President Trump conceding to President-elect Joe Biden remained unknown. Those close to the current president have given major news networks a glimpse into the turmoil brewing in the White House. Trump has pushed ahead with hopes of overturning results in battleground states where Biden leads by...U.S. government partners with pharmacy chains to increase COVID-19 vaccine access
November 12th, 20200 The U.S. government is partnering with regional pharmacy chains and independent community pharmacies to increase access to COVID-19 vaccines whenever they are made available, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said on Thursday. The partnership will cover about 60 percent of pharmacies throughout the 50 U.S. states,...
Republicans urge Trump to allow Biden access to briefings as U.S. election challenges sputter
November 12th, 20200 On Thursday, more Republican lawmakers said the Trump administration should allow Joe Biden to receive intelligence briefings, in a tacit acknowledgement the Democrat may soon occupy the White House despite the president's refusal to concede. Most Republican officials and lawmakers have publicly supported President Trump's effort to...
Trump presses on with uphill legal struggle hoping to overturn Biden victory
November 11th, 20200 On Wednesday, President Trump’s campaign took another step in its long-shot legal strategy to upend his election loss with a Michigan lawsuit while Georgia announced a recount and President-elect Biden worked on laying the foundation of his administration. Trump’s team went to federal court to try to block Michigan, a U.S....
Rules for recounts in presidential battleground states
November 9th, 20200 Georgia will go through a recount of the votes in the presidential race due to a narrow margin, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said on Friday. Below is a roundup of recount laws in some battleground states. Note that many of these states have been called already, though official results take time to be finalized after...
Joe Biden projected winner of 2020 presidential election
November 7th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Almost all major news sources declared former Vice President Joe Biden as the projected winner of the 2020 presidential election on Saturday. The news came after Biden won Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes, putting him past the needed 270 electoral votes. There was no immediate word from President Trump as...
Michigan Judge denies Trump campaign’s requests in election lawsuit, issues opinion
November 6th, 20200 LANSING – Michigan Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens issued her opinion today in Trump v Benson, the lawsuit filed by the Trump campaign against Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. Stephens denied the campaign's request to stop vote counts and processing after she held a hearing and listened to arguments Thursday,......
Biden gets a critical push in Nevada, most remaining votes will likely favor him
November 6th, 20200 CLARK COUNTY, NEVADA — Nevada’s Clark County, which is home to Las Vegas, delivered more than 20,000 votes for former Vice President Joe Biden, more than double what President Trump received in the latest count early Friday. With this blow to Trump's electoral hopes, Biden has moved closer to securing that battleground...
Biden gains slight leads in PA and GA, GA goes to recount
November 6th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Joe Biden has a sliver of a lead in the key battleground states of Pennsylvania and Georgia. President Trump’s slight lead in Pennsylvania diminished on Friday as mail-in ballots from across the state continued to be counted. Those ballots were overwhelmingly in Biden’s favor, giving him an edge by some 6,000...
Vote counts push Biden closer to victory as Trump falsely claims election being “stolen”
November 6th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — With his re-election chances fading as more votes are counted in a handful of battleground states, President Trump launched an extraordinary assault on the country’s democratic process from the White House on Thursday, falsely claiming the election was being “stolen” from him. Offering no evidence, Trump...
U.S. Supreme Court may not have final say in presidential election, despite Trump threat
November 4th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — While President Trump wants the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on a presidential race that is still too close to call, it may not be the final arbiter in this election, legal experts said. They said it was doubtful that courts would entertain a bid by Trump to stop the counting of ballots that were received......
Federal Judge blocks President Trump’s rule designed to stop immigrants seeking Green Cards
November 3rd, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — A U.S. District Judge in Chicago rejected a rule on Monday that was implemented by the Trump administration and aimed at denying Green Cards to immigrants utilizing food stamps and other public benefits. The rule was rejected by Judge Gary Feinerman. The Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights, as...
U.S. Election Day unfolds smoothly, so far defying fears of disruption
November 3rd, 20200 DETROIT/ATLANTA — Americans by the millions waited patiently to cast ballots at libraries, schools and arenas across the country on Tuesday, in an orderly show of civic duty that belied the deep tensions of one of the most polarizing presidential campaigns in U.S. history. The face masks worn by many voters and the sight of......
Polarized electorate, mail-in ballots could spark post-election legal “fight of our lives”
November 2nd, 20200 WILMINGTON, DEL — U.S. Election Day on Tuesday has all the ingredients for a drawn-out court battle over its outcome: A highly polarized electorate, a record number of mail-in ballots and some Supreme Court justices who appear ready to step in if there is a closely contested presidential race. The only missing element that would...
Record-breaking early voting in U.S. election tops 80 million
October 29th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than 80 million Americans have cast ballots in the U.S. presidential election, according to a tally on Thursday from the U.S. Elections Project at the University of Florida, setting the stage for the highest participation rate in more than a century. The record-breaking pace, more than 58 percent of the total......
