Friday morning news: November 8, 2024

Biden Rose Garden » President Biden is vowing a smooth transfer of power to the incoming Trump administration. Speaking in the Rose Garden Thursday, Trump said he spoke with President-elect Donald Trump by phone.

BIDEN: Congratulated him on his victory. And I assured him that I would direct my entire administration to work with his team to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition.

And Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at the White House …

PIERRE: The president invited the president-elect, Donald Trump, to come to the White House. And so once we lock that in, certainly we’ll share that with all of you.

She said a top priority for the president in his final days in office will be ensuring that Ukraine receives everything it needs from the United States.

Trump admin Cabinet/staff » Meantime, the president-elect and his inner circle are looking over a short list of names for Cabinet posts and other top positions in the next Trump administration.

Senior adviser to the Trump campaign Jason Miller:

MILLER:  Everybody wants to join. Everybody wants to be a part of what president Trump is going to build back because they saw him do it before. They know that we can do it again.

Sen. Marco Rubio is one of the names believed to be on Donald Trump’s short list.

But Rubio says he has no inside information and hasn’t spoken with anyone about it.

The president-elect has openly talked with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk about creating a Department of Government Efficiency.

Republican Congressman Nancy Mace weighed in on that.

MACE:  What he's done with the space X to save the government money by using reusable rockets that are saving the cost of orbit 18 times the economies of scale that he's shown to save the government money with space X. And so I'm excited about this.

Trump is also expected to tap Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for a health-related position.

House control » But he is still waiting to find out if he’ll have a Republican Congress to work with or a divided House.

With votes still being counted, it appears Republicans will control at least 211 House seats, but 218 is the magic number. That means they need at least seven more seats to retain their slim majority.

And there are 26 undecided races, almost half of them in California. House Speaker Mike Johnson:

JOHNSON:  We feel really good about where we sit with those California seats. We're still waiting. They've got to cure ballots and finish all their process. But look, I think we are going to grow the majority.

There are 26 races that are still undecided. Republican candidates are currently ahead in the vote count in 11 of those.

Senate update » But the party has already claimed control of the Senate. And the Associated Press has called one more race for the GOP.

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio:

RUBIO: Bob Casey, my colleague from Pennsylvania, really should concede. It's pretty clear he's not going to win that race.

Sen. Casey, the incumbent Democrat, appears to have lost to Republican challenger Dave McCormick who’s ahead by one-half of 1 percent with 99 percent of the votes counted.

That gives the GOP at least 53 of the 100 seats in the Senate.

Democrats are ahead in a pair of undecided races in Arizona and Nevada.

Federal Reserve » The Federal Reserve is cutting its key rate by another quarter-point. That follows a larger half-point reduction in September.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell told reporters:

POWELL: Overall, inflation has moved much close to our 2 percent longer run goal, but core inflation remains somewhat elevated.

Core inflation is a metric that focuses on the cost of goods and leaves out more volatile categories like food and energy.

The Fed is still working to bring that down but at the same time, the central bank has started cutting rates to support a softening job market.

Israel » In the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Yam, first responders rushed to the scene of a fire on Thursday.

That after the Israeli military says about 30 rockets and drones were fired from southern Lebanon. Some of those were intercepted but a vehicle was hit.

There were no reports of any injuries.

Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is offering his congratulations for President-elect Donald Trump on his Election Day win.

Israeli government spokesman David Mencer told reporters Thursday:

MENCER: I can share with you that the prime minister and the president-elect shared a warm and cordial conversation last night. The prime minister was amongst the first to make the call last night with both leaders agreeing to work together for Israel's security as well as the threat posed by Iran.

Mencer says the prime minister Netanyahu sees Trump's second term as a new beginning for America...and a powerful recommitment to the alliance between Israel and the United States

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: the issues women cared about—and voted for—during this year’s election.

Plus, more of your prayers for our country.

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