Harris concedes presidential election to Trump

Vice President Kamala Harris concedes the election to former President Donald Trump. And President Joe Biden speaks to Trump to invite him to a meeting at the White House. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024.

Harris concedes presidential election to Trump

Donald Trump is once again president-elect, with more media outlets calling the election on Wednesday, Nov. 6. The former (and future) president not only won the Electoral College but the popular vote as well.

As of early Thursday morning, Nov. 7, Decision Desk HQ had Trump standing at 312 electoral votes, surpassing the 270 needed to win. His opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris earned 226. Trump also led in the popular vote at close to 73 million, with Harris getting just over 68 million. 

We heard from Trump celebrating his victory in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. Harris chose not to speak at that time. 

Instead, the vice president waited until the afternoon to address a crowd of supporters at Howard University, where she conceded the election.

“The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for,” she said, “but hear me when I say, hear me when I say, the light of America’s promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting.” 

Harris said she spoke with Trump on the phone to congratulate him. She also told her supporters it is important to accept the election results and engage in a peaceful transfer of power, calling it “a fundamental principle of American democracy.” 

“At the same time, in our nation, we owe loyalty not to a president or a party, but to the Constitution of the United States, and loyalty to our conscience and to our god,” she said. “My allegiance to all three is why I am here to say, while I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign.” 

Harris also told the crowd, they might “feel dark times are ahead” but she hopes that’s not the case and added that “sometimes the fight takes a while.”   

Harris, as the sitting vice president, will be the one overseeing Congress’ ceremonial certification of the election in January. 

Meanwhile, there is speculation Trump could soon begin announcing appointments to key positions in his cabinet, in just a matter of days. Some prospective nominees reportedly canceled their flights out of south Florida Wednesday after election night celebrations, in order to remain close to Trump.

Biden congratulates Trump on win, invites him to White House

President Joe Biden also reached out to President-elect Trump over the phone on Wednesday. During that call, he invited Trump to a meeting at the White House and offered his congratulations. 

The White House released a statement saying, “President Biden expressed his commitment to ensuring a smooth transition and emphasized the importance of working to bring the country together.” 

A Trump campaign spokesperson confirmed the call, and that Biden invited the president-elect to the White House to “ensure a smooth transition between the current administration and the incoming administration.” The Trump campaign said the White House meeting would take place shortly and Trump very much appreciated the call from Biden. 

Biden also spoke to Vice President Harris on the phone Wednesday. He released a statement following her concession speech saying in part, “Under extraordinary circumstances, she stepped up and led a historic campaign that embodied what’s possible when guided by a strong moral compass and a clear vision for a nation.” 

President Biden added that selecting Harris as his vice president was “the best decision” he made.

The president is expected to address the nation Thursday on the election and the transition of power.

This morning at 11 AM ET, I’ll address the nation to discuss the election results and the transition.

Tune in here.

— President Biden (@POTUS) November 7, 2024

Special counsel, DOJ reportedly in talks to end Trump prosecutions

Now that former President Trump is once again president-elect, Special Counsel Jack Smith is reportedly in talks with Department of Justice leadership to figure out how to end the criminal cases against Trump. That’s what sources familiar with the matter have told several media outlets. 

The DOJ has had a longstanding policy against prosecuting a sitting president and Justice Department regulations say a special counsel must consult DOJ leaders — possibly even Attorney General Merrick Garland — on major decisions in an investigation. 

Last year, Smith charged Trump with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and illegally keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Those latter charges were dismissed by a judge earlier this year, but Smith has appealed that ruling. Trump has pleaded not guilty in both cases.

Biden admin rushing billions in assistance to Ukraine: Reports

The Biden administration plans to rush billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine before President Biden leaves office in January, according to multiple reports. The goal is to make sure Ukraine’s government is in a good place when President-elect Trump takes office. 

Trump has been critical of the scale of the U.S. military and financial support for Ukraine in its war with Vladimir Putin and Russia.

I had an excellent call with President @realDonaldTrump and congratulated him on his historic landslide victory—his tremendous campaign made this result possible. I praised his family and team for their great work.

We agreed to maintain close dialogue and advance our…

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) November 6, 2024

In April, the Republican-controlled House approved more aid for Ukraine, including an allocation for weapons. However, more than $6 billion in aid that has been set aside for Ukraine has not made it there yet. 

Trump has vowed to end the war between Russia and Ukraine quickly but has not specified how.

Cuba’s power grid collapses after Hurricane Rafael makes landfall

Hurricane Rafael weakened after making landfall in Cuba as a powerful Category 3 storm, but not before causing the island’s electrical grid to collapse. 

Ten million residents are now in the dark again, after Hurricane Oscar caused electrical grid collapses last month.

Major Hurricane #Rafael has made landfall over Artemisa province, Cuba 🇨🇺 with winds of 115 mph (185 km/h). pic.twitter.com/iuIkQscyyg

— Zoom Earth (@zoom_earth) November 6, 2024

While the storm is expected to stay in the southern part of the Gulf of Mexico, heavy rain will be seen in Florida and neighboring parts of the southeast. One to three inches of rain are expected for parts of the Florida Keys. 

Rafael is the fifth major hurricane of the year in the Atlantic and the strongest to hit this late in the year since 2020.

Fox News wins election ratings, overall viewership falls from 2020

The election results are in and so are the ratings. 

Fox News once again led the pack, getting the most viewers on election night. During primetime hours between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET, 9.8 million viewers tuned into Fox News. However, that is down from the nearly 14 million viewers who watched in 2020.   

On the broadcast side, ABC News came in No. 1 in primetime with 5.6 million viewers. 

Overall, Nielsen said across 18 cable and broadcast networks, 42 .3 million people tuned into coverage. That’s down more than 25% from 2020, when election coverage drew nearly 57 million viewers.

*Corrections to Wednesday’s “Unbiased Updates”: We would like to correct that North Carolina did not ‘flip’ blue as the current governor, Roy Cooper, is a Democrat. And, in our final story, history was made in three states on Election Day as two of the elections we mentioned took place in Delaware.