--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Good morning. It's Wednesday, November 11th. I'm Duarte Giraldino. And I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. Each morning, hear about some of the most fascinating stories in the news and how the world's best journalists are covering them.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Joe Biden is the president-elect. He now has nearly 5 million more votes than President Trump. And according to the Associated Press, at least 290 electoral college votes. But not only is Trump showing no signs of conceding, he's also actively preparing for a second term in office.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The Daily Beast reports his administration is still working on filling open federal positions for a second term. And The Washington Post reports the White House Budget Office is telling federal agencies, keep working on the Trump administration's budget proposal for the next fiscal year.
--:-- Shamita Basu: As you know, the peaceful transfer of power is a fundamental principle in any democracy. Normally, this transition here in the U.S. is cordial, professional, even gracious. By this time four years ago, in 2016, President Obama had invited Trump to the White House to kick off the transition process.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: My number one priority in the coming two months is to try to facilitate a transition that ensures our president-elect is successful. But Trump has not reached out to Biden, and this could only delay the transition.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Wall Street Journal reports on the implications of a delay. First, there's the General Services Administration. The GSA is a relatively small federal agency that, among other things, is in charge of signing a letter that officially kicks off the transition from one administration to the next.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: At the moment, the Trump appointee serving as the GSA administrator is refusing to formally recognize Joe Biden as the winner. Trump administration officials told federal agencies don't work with Biden's transition team until after the GSA formally signs off on his victory.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This delay isn't stopping Biden from getting plans in place for January. But the lack of formal recognition by the White House means that Biden and his team are unable to view classified information needed to prepare for the presidency or receive daily intelligence briefings.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The State Department won't be able to set up calls between Biden and foreign leaders and Biden eventual cabinet appointments could be delayed because background checks and security clearances are stalled.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And it's not just an inconvenience for Biden's picks. These delays have national security implications. The 9-11 Commission, which prepared reports on the circumstances that led to the September 11th attacks, specifically noted, the slow transition from President Bill Clinton to George W. Bush led to a lapse in national security preparedness.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The director of the Nonpartisan Center for Presidential Transition tells NPR, it's in the U.S.'s best interest for the outgoing and incoming administrations to coordinate, particularly on issues of national security or national crises like COVID-19.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But even without that cooperation, President-elect Joe Biden says his team is moving forward. We are already beginning the transition. We're well underway. And the ability for the administration in any way by failure to recognize our win does not change the dynamic at all in what we're able to do.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: January 20th, 2021. That's the day that Joe Biden will be sworn in as president, which means President Trump has just under 70 days left in office.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Vox explains what President Trump is going to be able to do as a lame duck. It's unlikely he'll be able to pass legislation through Congress, particularly given the fact that Democrats control the House.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: But President Trump still has all of his executive order powers. When a president reaches the end of their time in office, it's common for them to sign off on a string of executive orders. And Vox says we can expect to see the same thing from President Trump, who has relied on the use of executive orders a lot throughout his presidency.
--:-- Shamita Basu: According to UC Santa Barbara's American Presidency Project, in these four years, Trump has issued 192 executive orders. That more than both Presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush issued during their first terms in office.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Trump could also issue presidential pardons. Again, very typical of outgoing presidents. But unlike with past presidents, quite a few members of Trump's inner circle have been charged with crimes like Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Earlier in his administration, Trump commuted Roger Stone's sentence. Stone was convicted of obstruction of justice, making false statements to Congress, as well as witness tampering. Trump also pardoned his friend Conrad Black, who was convicted of fraud and obstruction of justice.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Then there's Trump's power to hire and fire in these last few weeks. Vox explains it's likely that he'll try to appoint judges for any remaining openings, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already said the Republican-controlled Senate would confirm.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In October, Trump issued an executive order that made it easier for him to hire or fire government employees. In the past, government employees had certain protections in place for job security to make sure they weren't unfairly affected by politics.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: But now, Vox says, it's expected that Trump will fire many civil servants. Just in the past few days, Trump dismissed three federal agency leaders, including Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And even if Trump does not fire anyone else, President-elect Biden will take over a government with a significant number of vacancies for agency positions, positions that the Trump administration never filled.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: According to a recently released statement by the Bipartisan Center for Presidential Transition, in order to build an effective government, Biden is going to have to bring in about 4,000 political appointees, over a quarter of which will need to be confirmed by the GOP-controlled Senate.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The drug company Pfizer says its COVID-19 vaccine is showing promising early results. Their data shows their vaccine is more than 90 percent effective at preventing infection. Pfizer plans to request emergency authorization later this month.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: But how the Trump administration acts on the approval of a vaccine during these last few weeks of his presidency will impact the Biden administration's ability to distribute a vaccine.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Sarah Zhang writes about a few possible scenarios for The Atlantic. According to the Pew Research Center, as of September, nearly half of adults in the U.S. say they would not take the vaccine even if it were available today.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Zhang explains one of Biden's biggest challenges is rebuilding public confidence in the process. Now, a vaccine will only stop the spread of COVID-19 if a large percentage of people in the U.S. are willing to take it.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Zhang also points out in a best-case scenario, the Trump administration will want credit for a vaccine that was developed under its leadership, and the Biden administration will want credit for distributing it.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: This could end up being the best of both worlds. If both administrations express support for the vaccine, more people are likely to get vaccinated. But without cooperation from the Trump administration, Zhang writes, Biden may have to rely on more than just doctors and scientists to convince people a vaccine is safe and effective.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He may have to turn to celebrities or regular people, particularly people from vulnerable populations, to help serve as messengers that the vaccine is safe and it's in yours and the nation's best interest to take it.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Finally, today is Veterans Day, and to honor the men and women who serve to protect the U.S.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Starting today, the National Park Service is giving veterans lifetime free access to all national parks. The Washington Post reports on the announcement.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said the agency is granting free access to the, quote, iconic and treasured lands our veterans fought to protect.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This benefit also extends to Gold Star families, people who've lost an immediate family member to military service.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: According to the National Park Service, its forests, mountains, waterfalls, and trails have long been a source of healing for people returning from war.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In fact, during World War II, over a third of all National Park's visitors were military personnel. And that's because at the time, the parks partnered with the military to offer their spaces not just for training and recreation, but also for the healing effects of nature.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: And you can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. We'll talk with you again tomorrow.
