Biden to deliver Thanksgiving address amid steep rise in Covid cases
WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden is expected to deliver a Thanksgiving address Wednesday from Wilmington, Delaware.
Biden's White House transition team said in a press release that the president-elect's speech would touch on "shared sacrifices Americans are making this holiday season" while delivering a message "that we can and will get through the current crisis together."
Biden's speech comes as the coronavirus cases continue to increase around the country, raising alarm among some health officials that holiday travel and indoor gatherings could lead to more outbreaks. The country is also facing a surge in food insecurity due to the impact of the virus, with food banks around the country reporting long lines ahead of the holiday.
The speech follows President Donald Trump's traditional turkey pardoning Tuesday, when the outgoing president touted a record-setting stock market but made no mention of the record-high Covid-19 cases.
In other transition news:
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is expected Wednesday to meet with transition advisers.
Outgoing Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates are under consideration to serve as attorney general in a Biden administration, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.
Biden will receive his first presidential daily briefing on Monday, his transition advisers told reporters.
Biden senior advisor Kate Bedingfield said Wednesday that "we don't feel it's necessary" for the president-elect to speak directly with Trump. "Certainly, should President Trump want to speak with President-elect Biden then that’s something we would work out in the future. But in terms of whether it’s mission critical to being able to move the transition forward efficiently? No," said Bedingfield.
Dr. Anthony Fauci told ABC's "Good Morning America" that he has been in contact with Ron Klain, Biden's incoming White House chief of staff, now that the transition process is formally underway. "Nothing substantive in the sense of plans, but just touching base with me," Fauci said.
Chief Adviser of Operation Warp Speed Moncef Slaoui said on "CBS This Morning" that his team has "not yet been in contact" with the Biden team but he expected those contacts to start soon. "Secretary Azar has said that we are ready to discuss and of course share all information that we have and we will be happy to do it," he added.
Biden said Tuesday in an exclusive interview with NBC News' Lester Holt that the Trump administration has already begun to reach out to his transition team, and he described the effort as "sincere," a day after a federal agency released a letter to formally begin the transition of power.
Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani is scheduled to appear before a legislative committee in Pennsylvania at which witnesses are expected to testify about claims of fraud in the November election.
The president-elect introduced key members of his Cabinet and national security team Tuesday, including Antony Blinken as secretary of state, Alejandro Mayorkas as secretary of homeland security, Avril Haines as director of national intelligence, Linda Thomas-Greenfield as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Jake Sullivan as national security adviser and John Kerry as Biden's special envoy for climate.
