Covid-19 Live Updates: U.S. Breaks Record for Most Deaths in a Week  —  Trump officials passed when Pfizer offered to sell more vaccine doses months ago.  Britain is readying a mass vaccination drive.  —  RIGHT NOW The U.S. has recorded its most Covid-19 deaths in a week.  —  Here's what you need to know:

Biden picks retired general Lloyd Austin to run Pentagon  —  President-elect Joe Biden has selected Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin to serve as secretary of defense, according to three people with knowledge of the decision.  If confirmed, Austin would be the first Black person to lead the Pentagon.

Agents raid home of fired Florida data scientist who built COVID-19 dashboard  —  DeSantis “sent the Gestapo”: Video shows FDLE agents with guns drawn at home of woman fired over COVID-19 data.  —  View Comments  —  State police brandishing firearms Monday raided the Tallahassee home of Rebekah Jones …

Scoop: Trump plots mass pardons, even to people not asking  —  President Trump isn't just accepting pardon requests but blindly discussing them “like Christmas gifts” to people who haven't even asked, sources with direct knowledge of the conversations told Axios.

Ted Cruz Wants to Toss Out 7 Million People's Votes.  Appalling.  —  The ‘constitutionalist’ senator volunteers to help make the case at the Supreme Court.  —  Ladies and gentleman, Fox News just learned—this is “breaking,” mind you—that the junior senator from Texas, Ted Cruz …

Trump asks Pennsylvania House speaker for help overturning election results, personally intervening in a third state  —  President Trump called the speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives twice during the past week to make the extraordinary request for help reversing his loss in the state …

Exclusive: Suspected Chinese spy targeted California politicians  —  A suspected Chinese intelligence operative developed extensive ties with local and national politicians, including a U.S. congressman, in what U.S. officials believe was a political intelligence operation run …

Ivanka & Jared buy $30M lot on high-security Miami island  —  Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have splashed out on a $30 million-plus dollar lot of land on Miami's uber-swanky and high-security Indian Creek Island — known as the “Billionaire's Bunker” — Page Six can exclusively reveal.

Former Israeli space security chief says aliens exist, humanity not ready  —  This “Galactic Federation” has supposedly been in contact with Israel and the US for years, but are keeping themselves a secret to prevent hysteria until humanity is ready.  —  Has the State of Israel made contact with aliens?

Trump blows a hole in the GOP on his way out  —  The president's last-gasp efforts to overturn the election are reshaping the party.  —  President Donald Trump walks away after speaking at the White House.  Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the presidential election have met with defeat …

MSNBC to Name Rashida Jones President, Succeeding Phil Griffin  —  Mr. Griffin, who has been with the cable news network for 25 years, will leave after the end of January  —  MSNBC is expected to name Rashida Jones as the network's president, people familiar with the matter said …

What The Polls Say About Georgia's Senate Runoffs  —  Headed into the 2020 election, we knew that Election Day might turn into Election Week or even Election Month because of the huge increase in mail voting due to the coronavirus pandemic.  While it thankfully didn't take a month to find …

The Marines And The Racist Porn Actor Who Tried To Start A ‘Modern Day SS’  —  Four neo-Nazis arrested on gun charges wanted to spark a race war, prosecutors said, and their potential targets included Black Lives Matter protesters.  —  In 2016, Liam Collins, then just a teenager living in New Jersey …

Tribes Want Deb Haaland For Interior Secretary.  Some Biden Advisers Are Trying To Thwart Her.  —  Anonymous Biden allies are telling news outlets the Indigenous congresswoman is not qualified.  “Of course it's offensive,” said Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.).

Armed Mexicans Were Smuggled In to Guard Border Wall, Whistle-Blowers Say  —  In a complaint unsealed on Friday, whistle-blowers working on President Trump's wall said that contractors were illegally bringing in Mexican guards to protect construction sites.  —  WASHINGTON — Two whistle-blowers …

A $4.5 billion Trump food program is running out of money early, leaving families hungry and food assistance charities scrambling  —  Trump's Farmers to Families Food Box program was set to end Dec. 31.  Vendors in some states are running out of money already.

Steakhouses, Hill bars and ski trips: GOP carries on amid the pandemic  —  It's not just the White House flouting pandemic rules to mark this town's schmooziest season.  —  Some corners of the GOP, including members of Congress, are refusing to let the coronavirus intrude on their holiday gatherings …

Trump Admin to Rename Two Bases for Space Force Over Military Objections  —  The Air Force had quietly agreed with Congress not to change anything until the NDAA settles a way forward on Confederate base names.  —  The U.S. Air Force plans to change the names of two Florida military bases heavily involved …

Former Alabama senator dies of Covid at age 78, and in his last words warns, ‘We messed up’ … A former Alabama state senator died of Covid-19 last week at age 78, officials said.  —  Former Sen. Larry Dixon, a Republican who also served as the executive director of the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners …

House conservatives urge Trump not to concede and press for floor fight over election loss  —  What Republicans are saying privately about the election  —  (CNN)President Donald Trump's staunchest defenders on Capitol Hill are urging him not to concede even after President-elect Joe Biden wins …

Reasons We've Loved New York A send-off to the many places, big and small, that closed in 2020. … If you live in New York long enough — and it doesn't have to be very long — it gradually becomes unrecognizable.  And maybe, you begin to realize, it's for someone else entirely …

Trump's options dwindle as safe harbor deadline looms  —  A reality is sinking in within Trump's orbit: It's over.  —  President Donald Trump's legal efforts are brushing up against a 19th century statute.  Doug Mills, Pool/Getty Images  —  President Donald Trump's effort to snatch …

Biden Administration Will Create Position to Reach Conservatives  — Cedric Richmond, a Louisiana congressman, will lead the effort  — Richmond wants to connect with 'people who didn't vote for us'  —  The Biden administration plans to create a position to find common ground with conservatives …

Woke Capital Isn't a Game  —  Conservatives need to stop treating virtue signaling as if it didn't matter.  —  This summer corporate American cheered on BLM and Antifa as they burned our cities.  Now, Twitter and Facebook openly censor information, while Nasdaq asks the government to sanction their stringent new diversity mandates.

Rudy Giuliani's COVID Case Shows There's No Vaccine to Treat the Disease the GOP Has Become  —  Go maskless.  Mingle away.  Get COVID.  Hey, as long as you're a wealthy white man who's a friend of the president, no problemo!  —  BEAST INSIDE … Trump's lawyer needs a doctor.

ER doctor who criticized Trump's actions to be removed from Walter Reed schedule  —  Dr. James Phillips, the emergency room physician who publicly criticized President Trump's decision to drive with Secret Service agents to greet supporters while he was hospitalized with COVID-19 in October …

What Joe Biden reads and watches  —  With help from Renuka Rayasam and Myah Ward  —  HOW THE PRESIDENT-ELECT GETS HIS NEWS — In the Biden administration, the foreign policy establishment is expected to return to its usual position of influence for the occupant of the Oval Office.