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Here are things to know for Monday, Nov. 9:
1. Joe Biden: Stumbles, tragedies and, now, delayed triumph
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., 77, was elected Saturday as the 46th president of the United States, defeating President Donald Trump in an election that played out against the backdrop of a pandemic, its economic fallout and a national reckoning on racism. He becomes the oldest president-elect and brings with him a history-making vice president-elect in Kamala Harris, the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to win the nation’s second-highest office.
There are no sure paths to a post held by only 44 men in more than two centuries, but Biden’s is among the most unlikely — even for a man who had aspired to the job for more than three decades, twice running unsuccessfully as a sitting senator and passing on a third bid to try to succeed Obama four years ago.
2. Biden turns to coronavirus response, names advisory board
As he begins his transition to the presidency, Joe Biden is pivoting from a bitter campaign battle to another, more pressing fight: reining in the pandemic that has hit the world’s most powerful nation harder than any other.
On Monday, Biden announced the members of his coronavirus task force that will develop a blueprint for fighting the pandemic. It includes doctors and scientists who have served in previous administrations, many of them experts in public health, vaccines and infectious diseases.
3. Pfizer says COVID-19 vaccine is looking 90% effective
Pfizer said Monday that an early peek at the data on its coronavirus vaccine suggests the shots may be a surprisingly robust 90% effective at preventing COVID-19, putting the company on track to apply later this month for emergency-use approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
The announcement, less than a week after a presidential election that was seen as a referendum on President Donald Trump’s handling of the crisis, was a rare and major piece of encouraging news lately in the battle against the scourge that has killed more than 1.2 million people worldwide, including almost a quarter-million in the United States alone, with confirmed infections in the U.S. expected to eclipse 10 million on Monday.
4. Local law expert says President Trump legal challenges won’t change the outcome of election
The Trump campaign is pursuing numerous lawsuits to challenge the results of the election.
KPRC 2 spoke to Dr. Eddy Carder, a constitutional law expert and professor at Prairie View A&M University, about the validity of Trump’s legal arguments.
“He has every right to challenge the election, challenge the votes, to pursue legal remedies and cures for the situation if there is absolute substantial fraud,” he said.
However, Carder said there is nothing substantive so far that would change the outcome of the election.
5. Jeff Luhnow expected to sue Astros after being fired for his alleged role in Astros' sign-stealing scandal
Sources confirm to KPRC 2′s Vanessa Richardson that former Astros General Manager Jeff Luhnow will be filing a lawsuit against the Astros.
In January, Luhnow was fired by Astros owner Jim Crane, alongside manager A.J. Hinch, for their alleged roles in the sign-stealing scandal.