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President Trump in a video on Thursday condemned the mob that violently stormed the U.S. Capitol one day earlier, saying the rioters "defiled the seat of American democracy."

Why it matters via Axios' Alayna Treene: We're only seeing this concession after his fiercest allies have begun to abandon him.

Some top remaining administration officials are preparing to resist any unlawful or dangerous orders in the closing days of Trump's presidency, senior administration officials with direct knowledge of the sensitive conversations tell Axios.

Why it matters: After Trump incited protesters to storm the Capitol on Wednesday, there's a near universal view among top officials that he is unfit and unhinged, these sources said.

President-elect Joe Biden owes his upcoming Senate majority to game-changing turnout Tuesday by African American voters across Georgia, according to Axios’ analysis of state election data.

The big picture: Turnout in runoff elections usually pales in comparison to general elections. This time, in every Georgia county, the number of votes cast Tuesday was at least 80% of the turnout in November. In Randolph County, which is 62% Black, turnout was 96%.

Authorities are hoping a nightly curfew and far smaller crowd will keep President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration from descending into a repeat of Wednesday's Capitol chaos.

Why it matters: The fact that a crowd of Trump supporters breached the Capitol and scaled the platform where Biden is slated to take the presidential oath has led to criticism by political leaders, calls for investigations and reflection about how it will alter a normally festive day.

Joe Biden is considering asking Congress to help suffering Americans in two steps: give them the balance of their coveted $2,000 coronavirus payments, followed by a $3 trillion tax and infrastructure package.

Why it matters: Biden is confident he can get multiple packages through Congress after Democrats won both Georgia Senate elections. The president-elect's team also wants to get cash in Americans' hands as quickly as possible, according to people familiar with the matter.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos submitted her resignation to President Trump Thursday night, a day after "March for Trump" protesters invaded the U.S. Capitol building, a senior White House official with direct knowledge of her letter tells Axios.

Why it matters: DeVos is the second Cabinet secretary to exit the administration in the wake of the deadly Capitol riot. Former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao submitted her resignation this week, effective Monday, Jan. 11.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday he has "requested and received" the resignation of Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger.

Driving the news: Capitol Hill law enforcement and security have come under heavy criticism over their response to Wednesday's siege on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Trump.

Serbia joined Argentina, Belarus and Russia this week to be among the first countries to approve and administer Russia's Sputnik V vaccine.

The big picture: Russia has blazed its own course in the vaccine race, relying entirely on a single, state-funded vaccine that was given emergency authorization before much data was available about its effectiveness.

President-elect Biden declared during the siege of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday that "the world is watching." Indeed, the world was watching long before that.

Why it matters: Biden has made restoring America's global image, leadership and alliances the cornerstone of his foreign policy agenda. That was a tall order even before audiences around the world watched a mob forcefully disrupt America's democratic process.

Eight in 10 Republicans oppose removing President Trump from office for inciting his supporters to storm Congress in an effort to overturn his election loss, according to a new Ipsos poll for Axios.

Why it matters: The stark finding underscores the degree to which the Republican Party has become the party of Trump.

The COVID-19 variants first detected in the U.K. and South Africa and now circulating globally aren't a current threat to the effectiveness of the first vaccines, but mutations will be closely monitored because "they could be an issue," NIAID director Anthony Fauci tells Axios.

The big picture: Vaccinations are underway, albeit with a slow start. The get-back-to-normal-goal depends on reaching 70%–85% herd immunity in the population, Fauci says. While there are some concerns the mutations might circumvent the vaccines, he says they pose more of a problem for certain treatments than for vaccines.

Statehouses have beefed up security, closed to the public and asked state employees to work from home, multiple state officials tell Axios.

Why it matters: Unrest broke out in several state capitals on Wednesday, but even places with peaceful protests have been forced to take extra precaution in the waning days of Trump's presidency.

1. Health: Fauci sees greater China role in COVID-19 spread, looking back one year later — 130,000 Americans are in the hospital for severe coronavirus infections.
2. Vaccine: Fauci says vaccine rollout’s "bumps and hiccups" won't last long.
3. Politics: Newly elected Rep. Jake LaTurner announces positive COVID-19 test just hours after House floor vote.
4. Economy: U.S. markets unbothered by Capitol insurrection— Job losses suggest labor market's "dark days" could return.
5. World: China's Sinovac vaccine 78% effective in Brazil trials, officials say.

Despite the slow roll out of vaccines so far, NIAID director Anthony Fauci says the COVID-19 vaccination campaign will ramp up fast enough that Americans should see "a degree of normality in the fall."

Driving the news: President-elect Biden is planning a program that will have "much more interaction between the federal government and the states than there are right now" in order to reach his goal of 1 million vaccines a day for 100 days, Fauci tells Axios.

There's a certain symmetry to a pair of energy sector developments Wednesday: Solar stocks jumped on a day that also brought hard evidence the oil industry has little interest in trying to drill in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The big picture: Solar and oil aren't really direct competitors, but both will be affected by the incoming Biden administration's policies and the speed of the global transition toward lower-carbon sources.

Nearly every major tech company has taken some action against President Trump's accounts as of midday Thursday following the chaotic riots at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

The big picture: With just two weeks left in office, Donald Trump has lost access to most of his social media megaphone.

Much of what happened Wednesday on Capitol Hill was not only predictable, but explicitly planned on internet message boards where the MAGA movement gets most darkly conspiratorial.

Axios Re:Cap digs into what led to the insurrection and what comes next with NBC News' Ben Collins, who covers online disinformation, and Lawyers' Committee attorney Arusha Gordon, who is leading a lawsuit against the Proud Boys.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Thursday called for Vice President Mike Pence and members of President Trump's Cabinet to remove him from office via the 25th Amendment.

Driving the news: Pelosi accused Trump of committing "seditious acts" and said keeping him in office for the next 13 days would be "very dangerous." She emphasized that the "overwhelming sentiment" of her caucus is to impeach Trump if Pence or the Cabinet do not act.

Twitch, the Amazon-owned live video streaming platform, disabled President Trump's account, a spokesperson confirmed to Axios on Thursday.

Why it matters: It's the latest in a string of platform efforts to take action on Trump's accounts following his calls for violence that resulted in the historic riot at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

President-elect Joe Biden joined Black Lives Matter activists and others in decrying what they said was a double standard in law enforcement's response to the mostly white mob that violently stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, compared to peaceful protesters calling for racial justice.

What he's saying: "If it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday ... they would have been treated very, very differently than the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol. We all know that's true, and it is unacceptable."

Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao is resigning in the wake of the invasion of the Capitol building by "March for Trump" protesters, which was egged on by President Trump.

Why it matters: Chao is the first Cabinet secretary to resign and is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

President Trump is banned from posting on his Facebook and Instagram accounts for at least the next two weeks until the transition of power to President-elect Joe Biden is complete, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a post Thursday.

Why it matters: It's an extraordinary step for Facebook to take, given that the company has been one of the slowest to take action against the President's account and has historically prioritized free speech, especially for world leaders.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr said in a statement to the AP on Thursday that President Trump's incitement of a march by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol was a "betrayal of his office."

Why it matters: As one of the most loyal members of Trump's Cabinet, Barr backed the president through some of the most high-stakes controversies of his tenure, including the use of force against protesters steps away from the White House and his impeachment proceedings for abuse of power.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk saw his net worth grew to over $185 billion as of Thursday, surpassing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as the world's richest man, CNBC reports.

The big picture: Tesla's stock price skyrocketed in 2020, making the electric car company more valuable than the world's top seven traditional automakers in a year marked by massive economic turmoil. The outspoken CEO responded Thursday to the news that he was now the world's richest man, tweeting: "How strange ... well, back to work."

Go deeper: Tesla mania vs. economic reality

Many of America's top businesspeople have had enough of political pandering to the mob, and plan to deny future contributions to those who egged it on.

Why it matters: Senators like Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz may have been auditioning for 2024 presidential runs, but have alienated some of those who could have helped fund those campaigns.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is demanding full control of Israel's Iran policy as Joe Biden prepares to assume the Oval Office, setting off a fierce fight at the highest echelons of Israel's government, senior Israeli officials tell me.

Why it matters: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing to take a very hard line over Biden's plan to return to the 2015 nuclear deal, in contrast with the more moderate approach favored by Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and the heads of Israel's security services.

President Trump enjoys the fervent support of tens of millions of Americans. But his closest friends and paid White House officials — many of the Trumpiest Trumpers we know — are avoiding him like the plague.

Behind the scenes: The president's final days in office will be lonely ones. Some stalwart aides and confidants — after years of enduring the crazy and trying to modulate the chaos — have given up trying to communicate with him, considering him mentally unreachable.

U.S. stock prices were generally higher on Wednesday and riskier assets in most markets rose as investors showed little worry about protests in Washington, D.C. that devolved into violence and looting at the nation's capital by supporters of President Trump.

What happened: "The market primarily is looking at an economic recovery in the second or third quarter and hasn’t seen anything in the pandemic or political situation to change that view," Joseph Trevisani, senior analyst at FXStreet, tells Axios.

You can't understand America, 2021, without watching how right-wing media explained a mob storming the U.S. Capitol for the first time since the early 19th century.

The big picture: The right's favored media — conservative TV, websites and social networks — offered an alternate reality in which everyone but pro-Trump rioters were to blame for the mayhem at the Capitol.

Wednesday's assault on the U.S. Capitol was an appalling shock to most Americans, but to far-right true believers it was the culmination of a long-unfolding epic.

The big picture: A growing segment of the American far right, radicalized via social media and private online groups, views anyone who bucks President Trump's will as evil. That includes Democrats, the media, celebrities, judges and officeholders — even conservatives, should they cross the president.

It is an ironic, poetic ending to the raucous reign of Donald J. Trump: Enabled — and enabling — Republicans put the final knives in their beloved, besieged, beaten president:

• It was often conservative judges appointed by Trump who rejected his desperate lawsuits to overturn the election results state by state.

President Trump early Thursday morning vowed an "orderly transition" when President-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20, according to a statement released by White House social media director Dan Scavino.

Why it matters: Trump's pledge, the first time he publicly acknowledged he would leave office on Jan. 20, came shortly after Congress certified Biden's victory. It also followed a shocking and chaotic day on Capitol Hill during which a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building, forcing the evacuation of lawmakers, staff and journalists.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat all took their strongest actions yet to block President Trump after his messages egged on misinformation-fueled mobs storming the Capitol Wednesday.

Yes, but: Many critics say the social media companies bear some responsibility for the day's chaos for not reining in Trump sooner and harder — and the brief suspensions fell short of calls for the networks to permanently ban Trump's account for repeated rule violations.

A lack of transparency by Chinese officials — particularly about the novel coronavirus' transmission and the obstruction of a top U.S. scientist from investigating it — played a significant role in allowing COVID-19 to spread outside China, NIAID director Anthony Fauci tells Axios.

The big picture: Axios first spoke with Fauci one year ago this week about the "mysterious pneumonia" in Wuhan, China, which he suspected was a novel coronavirus but was being reported by Chinese health officials as not that infectious.

Deaths and severe illness from the coronavirus continue to set new records almost every day, especially in the South and the West.

The big picture: More than 130,000 Americans are in the hospital today with COVID-19 infections. That's straining several states' health care systems and will keep pushing the virus' death toll higher and higher.

A joint session of Congress ended a day of siege by officially certifying on Thursday President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College win in the November election, the final step ahead of his Jan. 20 inauguration.

The bottom line: The final votes in Congress confirm that Biden will be the 46th president of the United States—despite some Republican lawmakers' challenges and the rampage through the Capitol by supporters of President Trump.

American Airlines is investigating an unruly and frightening episode on a flight to Washington, D.C., the night before a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol to protest the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's election.

Why it matters: Pilots and flight attendants are trained to keep passengers safe in the air and, since 9/11, to be on the lookout for potential terrorists. But in these extraordinary times, their duties have expanded to include mask enforcement and now, apparently, quelling civil unrest.

We were prepared to cover a different kind of fight in Congress today, a debate that would delay but fail to block Joe Biden's Electoral College win.

• Instead, we were there when mobs stormed the House and Senate chambers on behalf of President Trump, waving Trump 2020 flags and the Stars and Bars of the Confederacy.

The big picture: Later that night, we were back in each chamber as lawmakers vow to finish counting the Electoral College votes tonight. We're shaken but OK. We're also seeing democracy and politics in a different light.

With 13 days left in President Trump's term, confidants and Republican officials are considering drastic steps to stop him.

The big picture: These measures include censure, impeachment or invoking the 25th Amendment — a move, long dismissed as a liberal fantasy, in which Vice President Pence would step in if  Trump were found to be unable to perform his duties.

Multiple Republicans lawmakers dropped their objections to the certification of the Electoral College count on Wednesday night after a pro-Trump mob violently breached the U.S. Capitol Building earlier in the day.

Why it matters: GOP members of Congress who initially said they would object to the count reversed course before Congress reconvened and condemned the president's supporters who stormed the building.

Vice President Mike Pence addressed the reconvened Senate Wednesday evening after hours of pro-Trump protests at the U.S. Capitol building — prompting evacuations and halting the congressional count of Electoral College votes.

What he's saying: "Today was a dark day in the history of the United States Capitol ... We condemn the violence that took place here in the strongest possible terms ... To those who wreaked havoc in our Capitol today, you did not win. Violence never wins. Freedom wins and this is still the people's house," Pence said.