Biden begins transition plans as Trump refuses to concede

The Georgia Secretary of State’s office says the state's recount could start as soon as tomorrow. 

"We’re making the final decision on that today," Gabriel Sterling, Voter Implementation Manager with the office said. 

Under Georgia law, because the margin in total vote tallies is less than 0.5%, the Trump campaign had two business days after Friday's certification to request a recount. They requested that recount on Saturday. 

The recount will be taxpayer-funded, and will be conducted in each Georgia county using high speed ballot scanners.   

There is no statutory deadline for the recount to be completed under Georgia law. Sterling said it will take between 1,800-2,200 man hours, across the state, to complete the recount.   

Remember: President-elect Joe Biden, who was declared the winner last Friday as the state certified the results, is ahead by 12,670 votes or 0.2% over President Donald Trump in Georgia.

President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris just announced the members of their foreign policy and national security team. 

In a Transition Team news release they listed the following:

Biden and Harris will formally introduce and announce the team tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. ET, according to the transition team.

Many of their nominees will make history. Here's some more information on them:

Biden will tap former US Secretary of State John Kerry as a special presidential envoy on climate. Kerry is a champion of the Paris climate agreement, which Trump formally withdrew from. Kerry was Biden's pick to co-chair a "unity task force" on climate change with allies of Sen. Bernie Sanders after the Democratic presidential primary.

The transition team also confirmed CNN's previous reporting that Biden will pick Antony Blinken to be secretary of state, Linda Thomas-Greenfield to be ambassador to the United Nations and Jake Sullivan as national security adviser.

Blinken, Biden's top foreign policy aide, previously served in a deputy role during the Obama administration. Sullivan is another veteran foreign policy hand, and Thomas-Greenfield is a career diplomat with deep experience in the foreign service.

Sullivan and Thomas-Greenfield tweeted shortly after the announcement:

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman on Monday said that the Keystone state’s November election was conducted fairly and accurately amid the state’s certification deadline. 

Fetterman, a Democrat, was joined by Philadelphia County Commissioner Al Schmidt, a Republican, to push back against voter fraud and voting irregularity claims from the Trump campaign and Republicans. 

When asked by Bolduan how pending litigation is going to affect the outcome of the election, Fetterman responded that he expects Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes to be awarded to President-elect Joe Biden, who CNN has already projected as the winner of the state. 

 “Our Electoral votes are going to go to him,” Fetterman said. “And the Trump campaign is going to perhaps continue to lie about the conditions on the ground. But it’s not going to change anything. Everyone knows how this movie is going to end, including the President.” 

Philadelphia, the largest county in Pennsylvania, is expected to certify its election results by the end of the day, according to Al Schmidt, a Republican city commissioner who is among those responsible for overseeing the election process.  

Philadelphia County represents the largest swath of votes in Pennsylvania and leaned heavily in President-elect Joe Biden’s favor. 

Republicans in Pennsylvania meanwhile are asking a state court to step in on an emergency basis to stop the vote certification there.

The lawsuit was filed by GOP Rep. Mike Kelly and others on Saturday. It alleges that Pennsylvania's allowance of universal, no-excuse mail-in balloting was unconstitutional. The lawsuit seeks an immediate halt to the certification process and an invalidation of all mail-in ballots.

After first congratulating President-elect Joe Biden for his win over the weekend, Republican Sen. Pat Toomey criticized President Trump for reaching out to state lawmakers in his attempt to block or delay the certification process in key states as part of a long-shot effort to overturn his election defeat through the Electoral College. 

"The idea that a sitting president would try to ... I don't know pressure, cajole, persuade state legislators to dismiss the will of their voters and select their own group of electors and send them to the Electoral College ... that's completely inconsistent with any kind of truly democratic society so that shouldn't be going on in my view," Toomey told CNBC on Monday morning.

The Pennsylvania Republican reiterated his belief that the President has exhausted his legal options in his home state, adding that he thought the same was true in Georgia and Michigan.

"Among the most fundamental aspects of our Republic and a democratic system is to accept the outcome of elections," Toomey said.

He noted that he has spoken with his Senate colleagues and has reached out to the White House about his concerns.

Asked if he felt he was a lone voice among his conference, Toomey said, "I don't like to characterize how my colleagues feel about these things but I can assure you I am not alone in this view among Republican senators." He did not say who he had talked with or elaborate further.

Despite his criticism, Toomey said he did not regret supporting Trump for reelection, warning of a "very, very scary and radical shift to the left" in the Democratic party.

Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican from Ohio, called for the presidential transition to formally begin despite President Trump continuing to deny the results of the election.

In an op-ed he wrote for The Cincinnati Enquirer on Monday, Portman said:

"I voted for President Trump, was a co-chair of his campaign in Ohio, and I believe his policies would be better for Ohio and the country. But I also believe that there is no more sacred constitutional process in our great democracy than the orderly transfer of power after a presidential election. It is now time to expeditiously resolve any outstanding questions and move forward," he added.

Portman expressed his belief that if Trump's legal challenges extend beyond certification deadlines, it could cause "unprecedented uncertainty and raise serious constitutional questions."

"Donald Trump is our president until Jan. 20, 2021, but in the likely event that Joe Biden becomes our next president, it is in the national interest that the transition is seamless and that America is ready on Day One of a new administration for the challenges we face," Portman said, noting Biden should have access to intelligence briefings and briefings on vaccine distribution plans.

However, Portman did not actually acknowledge that Biden is the President-elect.

150 business leaders in New York have written an open letter urging the Trump Administration to move forward with a transition.

The letter, published under the Partnership for New York City, warns that this delay is making democracy grow weaker and "puts the public and economic health and security of America at risk."

The business leaders urged respect for the Democratic process adding, "there is not a moment to waste in the battle against the pandemic and for the recovery and healing of our nation to begin."

President-elect Joe Biden is expected to announce his Treasury Secretary nominee and other top White House economic advisers likely right after Thanksgiving, officials familiar with the matter say.

In a history-making decision he's expected to select the first woman to fill the post.

The two leading contenders for the post are former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, and current Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard, two people familiar with the matter tell CNN.

For Treasury, Brainard is seen as too corporate by some on the left, officials said, and Yellen would face smoother sailing in confirmation in a Republican-controlled Senate.

The Cabinet picks are being paired in key portfolios, with the diplomacy announcements coming Tuesday, followed by economic and health-focused posts in December.

WATCH:

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, called on his party to denounce what he called "insane conspiracy theories" from Trump attorney Sidney Powell.

On Monday, Kinzinger retweeted a tweet from the Republican National Committee's official Twitter account featuring a video of Powell speaking at the Trump campaign's Thursday press conference at RNC headquarters, during which the lawyer baselessly alleged, among other things, that the CIA and the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez were involved in rigging the 2020 election. 

"Now would be a great time to denounce this,@gop how embarrassing. Our party needs to be better than giving credence to these insane conspiracy theories," Kinzinger wrote.

Some more context: On Sunday night, Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis, two members of the Trump campaign's legal team, attempted to distance themselves from Powell, saying she was "practicing law on her own" and not a member of the team, even though she participated in their press conference and the President had previously announced on Twitter she was joining the team.