The latest on Biden's transition

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, confirmed to CNN that he will be meeting with President-elect Joe Biden's transition team virtually today at 2 p.m. ET.

The meeting will take place with the transition team assigned to the National Institute of Health (NIH).

Fauci has had initial conversations with Biden aides, including incoming White House chief of staff Ron Klain, in recent days as part of the infectious diseases expert's expected role in the Biden administration.

The expected meeting was first reported by CBS.

The meeting comes a day after the total number of coronavirus deaths reported in a day set a new record and hospitalizations also reached an all-time high.

More than 100,200 patients were in US hospitals Wednesday, according to the COVID Tracking Project. More than 2,800 Covid-19 deaths were reported Wednesday, the most the US has ever reported in a single day.

Georgia Republicans are increasingly worried about President Trump's rally on Saturday for the two Senate runoff races, as some brace for a tirade to overturn his loss that could hurt the party's effort to keep control of the chamber.

This will be Trump's first rally since losing the election to Joe Biden.

The campaigns for Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler recognize that Trump can fire up his supporters for their Jan. 5 elections like no one else in their party can.

But in the aftermath of his loss in Georgia, Trump has attacked fellow Republicans Gov. Brian Kemp and Georgia Secretary of State Brian Raffensperger, not only undermining confidence in the integrity of US elections, but also discouraging some potential Republican voters, who now think that the fix is in.

Trump's rally also comes ahead of Loeffler's to debate with Democratic challenger Rev. Raphael Warnock on Sunday. Perdue declined an invitation to debate Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Jon Ossoff.

A group of prominent former Georgia Republican officials, including former Gov. Nathan Deal and former Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss, released a statement on Wednesday urging the party to unify, and shift their attention to the challenge of protecting their Senate majority.

"Please separate the two," Eric Johnson, a Trump supporter and former state Senate Republican leader who signed the statement, told CNN.

"Looking into potential problems with the election is important, but we need to leave that (to) the lawyers," said Johnson. "The grassroots activists need to focus on the runoff."

Read more here.

Watch the latest on CNN:

A group of lawmakers and civil rights groups are demanding that President-elect Joe Biden appoint Black and Latino nominees to some of the remaining high-level Cabinet positions, as Biden faces increasing pressure to diversify his administration. 

The push comes as activists and elected officials insist that Biden is not doing enough to meet his promise of creating an administration that reflects the nation's diversity.

The latest effort comes from members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, who in a letter obtained by CNN, requested that Biden appoint either California Attorney General Xavier Becerra or Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez to serve as the US Attorney General.  

The caucus is scheduled to meet today with incoming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, as well as key Biden transition team leaders Jeffrey Zients and Ted Kaufman.

This will be the first official meeting between the transition and the caucus, according to a person familiar with the planning, and the expectation is it will be an opportunity for members to ask questions and continue their push for a series of candidates they'd like to see in Cabinet positions. 

So far, Biden has named four people of color to his Cabinet: UN Ambassador nominee Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a Black woman, Secretary of Homeland Security nominee Alejandro Mayorkas, a Cuban American man who would be the first Latino to serve in the position if confirmed by the Senate, and Neera Tanden, who is the first woman of color and first South Asian person nominated to lead the Office of Management and Budget. 

Cecilia Rouse, a Black woman, was nominated to chair the Council of Economic Advisers, a position which Biden announced last week he will elevate to the Cabinet level.  

Biden, however, named White nominees to two of the highest-profile Cabinet positions — secretary of state and treasury secretary.

Black and Latino leaders are concerned that people of color are primarily being nominated to second-tier positions in Biden's administration and urging Biden to choose diverse candidates fill the remaining high-profile positions, saying it will give underrepresented groups a voice in the nation's leadership.

Here's a look at who Biden has selected so far:

Leaders from seven Black-led civil rights groups say they requested a meeting to discuss the need for more Black nominees to Biden's Cabinet.  

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated how many people of color Biden has named to his Cabinet. He has named four.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is constructing the key team of senior staffers who will accompany her to the White House, announcing Thursday the hiring of three top roles including chief of staff.

The staffers, all of whom are women and two of whom are people of color — highlight the incoming administration's commitment to diversity.

Here's a look at who is joining her team:

The all-women, majority of color trio will join at least two other women of color holding senior roles in Harris' office, in the latest high-profile appointments for an administration that has pledged to have its ranks reflect the diversity in America.

That includes Symone Sanders, an incoming senior adviser and chief spokesperson for the vice president-elect, and Ashley Etienne, who will serve as communications director for Harris.

Read more here.

CNN's Jake Tapper will interview President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris today in their first joint interview since winning the election, the network announced Tuesday. 

Part of the interview will air on CNN's "The Lead" in the 4 p.m. ET hour and "The Situation Room" in the 5 and 6 p.m. ET hour on Thursday, and the full interview will air later the same day during an hour-long special at 9 p.m. ET. It will be simulcast on CNN International and in Spanish on CNN en Español.

The interview will take place in Biden's hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, at the same theater where the President-elect unveiled several top members of his administration.

Since being projected the winners of November's election, Biden and Harris have moved quickly to build out a diverse administration that will help them tackle the nation's most pressing issues. 

During Biden's first 100 days in office after being sworn in on Jan. 20, the President-elect and his team are expected to focus on passing a broad economic aid package and, where legislation is not necessary, put forth a series of executive actions aimed at advancing his priorities, CNN has reported.

President-elect Joe Biden and his transition team are preparing for an early, all-out push to pass an ambitious new stimulus bill, while also drawing up plans for a flurry of executive actions aimed at delivering on campaign promises and undoing the Trump administration's efforts to undermine key government agencies.

Biden will be inaugurated in January with a pressing mandate to confront simultaneous and interwoven public health, economic and racial crises. At the same time, his team will take over the work of spearheading one of the most complicated, politically fraught mass vaccination campaigns in American history.

Biden's agenda for his first 100 days in office will, according to both those close to him and outside groups in contact with his top aides, center on two key avenues of action:

Containing the Covid-19 pandemic, launching an economic recovery and tackling racial inequality are his most urgent priorities, transition officials say.

The scope of stimulus legislation will likely turn on the results of the Senate run-offs in Georgia in early January, a little more than two weeks before Biden is inaugurated.

If either Democrat fails to unseat their GOP incumbent rivals, and the body remains under the thumb of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican, Biden's ambitions will be checked from the outset. The immigration legislation Biden said he plans to send to the Congress within his first 100 days would likely be dead on arrival.

But sources familiar with internal discussions stressed that getting a grip on the surging coronavirus crisis is far and away Biden's top concern. Until that happens, one of the sources said, the President-elect's wider legislative agenda is likely to take a backseat.

Read more here about Biden's priorities in the early days of his administration.

Most Republicans in Congress still haven't called to congratulate Joe Biden for winning the election, let alone refer to him as President-elect — which makes Mitt Romney all the more of an outlier.

He was the first GOP senator to congratulate Biden when he was declared the victor. That's a reflection of Romney's moderate background, but also of the personal relationship he's fostered with Biden over the years.

The two were on opposite sides of the Presidential ticket in 2012, though, as Romney recalled to CNN on Tuesday, that didn't stop Biden from speaking at Romney's 2017 political summit.

With 36 years in the US Senate, Biden will have more experience on Capitol Hill than any other US President. Yet only a quarter of those he served with are still in Congress, meaning he will have to rely on a few key relationships to get things done.

Along with maintaining working partnerships with the leaders of both chambers, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Biden will have to rely on a handful of moderates and close political allies.

Here are some key relationships to watch between Biden and the Hill early in his administration:

Read the full story here.