--:-- [Theme music fades out]
--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Thursday, January 7th. I'm Shamita Basu. And I'm Duarte Giraldino. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: In the very early hours of the morning, Congress finished counting the certified electoral votes and confirmed Joe Biden as the next president of the United States.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The votes for president of the United States are as follows. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of the state of Delaware has received 306 votes. Donald J. Trump of the state of Florida has received 232 votes.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: But Congress only fulfilled this constitutional duty after a shocking and sobering day filled with mob violence at the U.S. Capitol that severely delayed the process.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Pro-Trump extremists stormed the Capitol building. They broke through doors and windows and even occupied the House and Senate chambers.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: In one image shared widely on social media, you can see security inside the House chamber drawing their weapons in an armed standoff with extremists.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In a separate violent moment, one woman was shot and killed. Authorities say three others died of medical emergencies near the Capitol grounds. Pipe bombs were found in the area.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: As of this morning, it's still unclear why reinforcement wasn't called in sooner to assist the Capitol Police Force, leaving rioters to roam the halls of the Capitol for hours.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Washington Post reports some videos show Capitol police officers appearing to stand back as rioters streamed into the building.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Reuters points out it was a stark contrast to how quickly and aggressively federal agencies and the National Guard were deployed during last summer's protests against police brutality in Washington and elsewhere.
--:-- Shamita Basu: More than 50 people were arrested and more than a dozen officers injured. And in the middle of all of this, the Capitol was put on lockdown for hours. Members of Congress were evacuated or told to shelter in place.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The vice president and speaker of the House, who are both in line of succession to the presidency, were taken to a safe and undisclosed location.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Storming the Capitol as lawmakers were trying to count and confirm the results of the election, threatening their safety during a constitutionally mandated process, this is not a form of peaceful protest.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Many news outlets called it what it was, which was an insurrection, a violent revolt against the government led by pro-Trump extremists.
--:-- President Joe Biden: [Audio clip] The scenes of chaos at the Capitol do not reflect a true America do not represent who we are. What we're seeing are a small number of extremists dedicated to lawlessness. This is not dissent. It's disorder. It's chaos. It borders on sedition. And it must end. Now.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In the aftermath of all of this, Analysis from outlets like Vox and The New Yorker Point out yesterday's insurrection Didn't just come from nowhere.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The pro-Trump rioters The violence The deaths Are the result of a long campaign by the president And his enablers To undermine faith in the electoral process And to falsely claim the election was stolen.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Just hours before the mob stormed the Capitol, President Trump was at a rally speaking to his supporters. You'll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: And as Vox explains, for weeks leading up to this, extremists on social media platforms like Parler and Gab were calling for people to march in D.C. to arm themselves, to use violence if necessary.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In other words, if you look behind you, you'll see a long digital footprint leading up to this moment.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: There was also violence at state capitals across the country. Vox pulled together reporting from multiple outlets. The scenes include rioters smashing glass at Arizona's state capitol, clashing with police in New Mexico, and rioters pepper-spraying officers in Oregon.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And by the time the president told the mob to stand down yesterday afternoon, it was too late. They had already burst into the capitol. They were in the Senate demanding to know where Mike Pence was and waving a potent symbol of American division, the Confederate flag.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The president's late day video message was not a condemnation. Listen to what he told his extremist supporters at the end of that video. We love you. You're very special.
--:-- Shamita Basu: While Senator Mitt Romney was evacuating from the Senate, he could be heard saying to his Republican colleagues, and I'm quoting, this is what the president has caused today, this insurrection.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Republican Ben Sasse echoed that same idea when he issued a statement blaming President Trump for the day's violence.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And it seemed the day's violent occupation struck a chord with a lot of Republican lawmakers. A number of GOP senators who earlier in the week had vowed to object to the election results. They stood down. But still eight senators and 139 members in the House voted to support objections and the process dragged on for nearly eight hours.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: In the early hours of this morning just after Pence confirmed Biden win President Trump acknowledged for the first time that he would no longer be president come January 20th.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Trump released a statement saying that while he disagrees with the results of the election, there will be a peaceful transition of power in the weeks ahead.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The scenes from the Capitol didn't just shock Americans. They shocked the world. These images were projected to the world. Foreign embassies cabled their home capitals to report the harrowing scenes at the very heart of our democracy.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This will be a stain on our country, not so easily washed away. That was Chuck Schumer speaking at the Senate floor last night.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: CNN has a roundup of foreign reaction to yesterday's mob violence and the message it's sending to the rest of the world about the state of American democracy.
--:-- Shamita Basu: U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the events as disgraceful. Norway's prime minister called the violence a, quote, completely unacceptable attack on democracy, and went on to say President Trump is responsible for stopping this.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Germany's foreign minister said, quote, the enemies of democracy will be thrilled to see these unbelievable pictures from Washington, D.C.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Many of the nations that watch what was unfolding, they're also often the very countries that look to the United States for leadership. The Washington Post is calling the country's reputation, quote, severely tarnished.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: And countries that the U.S. often condemns for their track record on democracy or human rights. Well, yesterday's mob violence gave them an opportunity to turn the tables. Turkey, for example, called on the U.S. to, quote, show restraint and common sense.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In Venezuela, a country that has been going through deep social and economic unrest for years, their foreign minister called this a, quote, profound political and social crisis in the U.S.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: So while the Capitol was being stormed, the AP projected John Ossoff the winner of Georgia's Senate seat. And that news broke just a few hours after Raphael Warnock was called the winner of his race.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This is a major change for American politics. As of January 20th Democrats will control the presidency plus the House and the Senate.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: But that doesn't necessarily mean that Democrats will be able to accomplish everything that they want to. You see Senate rules will make it difficult for Joe Biden to pass a lot of his agenda and to roll back a lot of Trump's.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Wall Street Journal explains exactly what happens when there's an even split, when 50 senators vote with Democrats and 50 vote with Republicans.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Most bills require 60 Senate votes to pass, unless they're designated as budget measures. So big Democratic policy goals like Medicare for all or a Green New Deal won't be easy to get done, even with a tie-breaking vote from the future Vice President Kamala Harris.
--:-- Shamita Basu: What it does mean, though, Biden will have a much easier time getting his cabinet picks confirmed. The same goes for any potential nominations to the federal judiciary. He should also be able to get a new stimulus deal through.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: In The Atlantic, Russell Berman writes, With Democrats in charge of key Senate agencies, Biden probably won't have to worry about Republicans launching investigations into his son's taxes or overseas activities.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But for Biden, undoing Trump's legacy will be much harder, particularly on two fronts, health care and immigration.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The number of uninsured Americans has crept up every year during the Trump presidency, and the administration weakened key parts of the Affordable Care Act.
--:-- Shamita Basu: PBS NewsHour explains that reverting back to Obama-era policy on health care won't be like flipping a switch.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Then there's immigration. Biden will be able to reverse some Trump policies on day one, like repealing the travel ban for Muslim-majority countries and stopping funding for the border wall.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But The Washington Post explains bigger-scale immigration changes are going to be more difficult to get done. Easing up too quickly on Trump's border enforcement policies, for example, could cause a surge of migration at the border.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Processing asylum seekers is going to take time because the government needs to make sure there are enough judges in place.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now, President-elect Biden faces a larger challenge than any single policy area. Even after a day of deadly violence on the Capitol, many Republicans still stuck to their plan to object to the counting of the votes that confirmed Joe Biden will be the next president.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: This political division and the resulting erosion of our democratic norms, it doesn't all go away when President Trump leaves office.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You can find coverage of this historic moment in the Apple News app. We'll talk with you again tomorrow.
--:-- [Theme music fades in]
