Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took their oaths of office Wednesday in a historic inauguration.

Harris is the first female, the first Black and first South Asian vice president of the United States.

After a tumultuous year that began a new chapter of the civil rights movement as Americans took to the streets to protest against racial injustice and police brutality after the police killing of George Floyd, the swearing in was a remarkable achievement for a country that has often struggled to live up to its ideals of equality for all.

To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy

The United States has reported at least 400,000 deaths from Covid-19 since the pandemic began, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University as of Tuesday afternoon.

That's more than the number of Americans who died in World War I, Vietnam War and the Korean War combined, and nearly as many Americans who died in World War II. It's far higher than any other country's Covid-19 death toll.

To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor Tuesday that “the mob” that attacked the Capitol “was fed lies.”

“They were provoked by the President and other powerful people,” McConnell said.

McConnell said the Senate certified President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, and that he and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be sworn in tomorrow.

To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy

Two Army National Guard members were removed from inauguration duty as part of the security vetting process to ensure none of the troops have ties to extremist groups, a defense official confirms to CNN's Barbara Starr.

It is not clear at this time if the two are connected or what incident triggered their removal.

To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy

The New York Mets have fired general manager Jared Porter after he reportedly sent explicit pictures to a female reporter in 2016.

To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy

China's economy grew more than expected last year, even as the rest of the world was upended by the coronavirus pandemic.

The world's second largest economy expanded 2.3% in 2020 compared to a year earlier, according to government statistics released Monday.

It's China's slowest annual growth rate in decades — not since 1976 has the country had a worse year, when GDP shrunk 1.6% during a time of social and economic tumult.

To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy

President Donald Trump is preparing to issue around 100 pardons and commutations on his final full day in office Tuesday, according to three people familiar with the matter, a major batch of clemency actions that includes white collar criminals, high-profile rappers and others but -- as of now -- is not expected to include Trump himself. 

The White House held a meeting on Sunday to finalize the list of pardons, two sources said.

To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy

Russia's leading opposition figure and chief Kremlin critic, Alexey Navalny, was detained by local police on Sunday, moments after his return to the country.

He was taken away "by police officers at the border" without explanation, his spokesperson Kira Yarmysh tweeted. "The lawyer was not allowed to go with him, because just seconds ago 'he passed the border.'"

To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy

Music producer and convicted murderer Phil Spector died of natural causes on Saturday, according to a statement released by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

An official cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner for the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office at a later date.

To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy

Justice Department prosecutors have formally walked back their assertion in a court filing that said Capitol rioters sought to "capture and assassinate elected officials."

A federal prosecutor in Arizona asked a magistrate judge in a hearing on Friday to strike the line in a recent court filing about defendant Jacob Anthony Chansley, a man who is alleged to have led some in the crowd in the first wave into the Capitol with a bullhorn while carrying a spear and wearing a fur headdress.

The entire line the prosecutors want to omit from their court filing is: "Strong evidence, including Chansley's own words and actions at the Capitol, supports that the intent of the Capitol rioters was to capture and assassinate elected officials in the United States Government."

The stunning move comes a few hours after the Michael Sherwin, the acting US attorney in Washington, DC, said at a press conference there was "no direct evidence of kill and capture teams" at this time in the siege of the Capitol building.

To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy