Axios

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) called on President Trump to accept his defeat in the election on "Meet the Press" Sunday, adding that there should be no doubt Joe Biden won after the Electoral College votes for the president and vice president on Monday.

What he's saying: "It looks very much like the electors will vote for Joe Biden," Alexander said. "And when they do, I hope that he puts the country first — I mean, the president — that he takes pride in his considerable accomplishments, that he congratulates the president-elect and he helps him get off to a good start, especially in the middle of this pandemic."

Several Trump allies, led by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), plan to challenge the election results on Jan. 6, when Congress convenes to officially tally the votes from the Electoral College and certify Joe Biden as the president-elect.

Why it matters: Trump has refused to concede the election and has repeated false allegations of mass voter fraud while losing dozens of court cases. The challenges Brooks plans to bring up in Congress are extremely unlikely to change the outcome, but they will be another high profile effort on the part of some Republicans to invalidate millions of votes to overturn the election.

Violent clashes erupted in Washington, D.C., and Washington state, after supporters of President Trump, many maskless despite face mask mandates, rallied Saturday, refusing to accept that President Trump lost the 2020 election.

The latest: In Olympia, Wash., police arrested two suspects and declared a riot after one person was shot during a face-off between Trump supporters and counter-protesters, per the New York Times.

The latest "Saturday Night Live" cold open tackled the FDA's authorization of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine a day earlier.

Details: Beck Bennett as CNN's Wolf Blitzer noted it's "like the PS5: Everybody wants it, nobody can get it, and if you're rich, you already got it like a month ago" before introducing the White House coronavirus task force's Anthony Fauci (Kate McKinnon) and Deborah Birx (Heidi Gardner).

• The show was hosted by actor Timothée Chalamet, with music from Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

Flashback: Anthony Fauci praises "classy" Brad Pitt's "SNL" portrayal of him

People used emergency lodging across the U.S. more than 1 million times in 2020, over four times the annual average during the past decade, the American Red Cross said.

Why it matters: The figure is a testament to how the COVID-19 pandemic, active wildfires, a relentless hurricane season and other natural disasters wracked the country this year.

Four of the largest U.S. veterans groups on Friday called for the immediate dismissal of Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie after a watchdog audit concluded he mishandled an investigation into sexual assault allegations at a veterans hospital, AP reports.

Driving the news: The VA inspector general's report, released Thursday, said that Wilkie sought to discredit a veteran and congressional aide who said she had been assaulted at a VA medical center last year. The report also said Wilkie's staff worked to spread negative information about the woman.

Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine, which was authorized for emergency use on Friday night, is expected to arrive throughout the U.S. by Monday to administer to health care workers, U.S. officials said Saturday.

Why it matters: The administration green-lighting shipments and distribution this weekend comes as the U.S. topped more than 3,000 deaths a day — more than 9/11 or D-Day.

As his first book, New York Magazine national correspondent Gabriel Debenedetti is writing a book for Henry Holt & Co. on the "long, winding arc of the close, complex relationship between Joe Biden and Barack Obama."

What they're saying: I'm told that the book, which doesn't have a publication date, "will take a long view of the unprecedented relationship between the two presidents, looking at how the true, intricate stories of their intertwined careers — from the Senate to the White House, to the Trump era and back — goes far deeper than the popular bromance narrative."

President Trump was enraged by a Wall Street Journal scoop that Attorney General Bill Barr worked "for months" during the campaign to conceal the federal investigation of Hunter Biden.

The state of play: The president is re-exploring options for replacing Barr, and Saturday morning tweeted this rebuke: "Why didn’t Bill Barr reveal the truth to the public, before the Election, about Hunter Biden[?]"

By removing Americans from public life, the pandemic is threatening long-term damage to the essential services we all share — like schools and transit — while worsening inequality.

Why it matters: Technology has helped keep many — though far from all of us — working, fed and even entertained at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. But the forced retreat from public life will have toxic ramifications unless the places and services we all share can be saved.

President Trump on Friday signed a continuing resolution to fund the government through Dec. 18, temporarily averting a shutdown after the Senate passed the bill earlier the same day.

Why it matters: The short-term resolution is simply a time-saver, buying Congress an extra week to work out their differences over a longer-term funding deal and a coronavirus stimulus package — something they’ve tried, and failed, to pass for months.