Michigan officials, Georgia results, Transgender Day of Remembrance: 5 things to know Friday

Editors, USA TODAY
·5 min read

Michigan officials head to the White House to meet with Trump

In an unexpected move, President Donald Trump will meet Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, both Republicans, at the White House Friday, as his campaign finds little legal relief in their ongoing attempts to show, without evidence or proof, that Michigan election results are illegitimate. Both Chatfield and Shirkey have said they have no plans for any longshot maneuvers aimed at the Republican legislature naming an alternate set of pro-Trump electors for Michigan. When asked about the visit, President-elect Joe Biden said he couldn't speak about Trump’s motivation. "It's hard to fathom how this man thinks. It's just outrageous what he's doing." President Trump, who has rarely been seen in person since the election on Nov. 3, has yet to concede to President-elect Biden, falsely claiming that the election was stolen.

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State updates: Georgia to certify results as Wisconsin begins recount

We are closing in on three weeks since Election Day and edging closer to certification deadlines in various key states as President Donald Trump continues his long-shot bid to retain the presidency by overturning election results. A partial recount begins Friday in Wisconsin, though that has already gotten off to a rough start. State-level results must be certified by Dec. 1, and while President-elect Joe Biden's lead over Trump is narrow at just over 20,000 votes, experts say the results aren't expected to change much. In Georgia, the results of five million ballots that were recounted by hand over the past week will be certified on Friday, reaffirming President-elect Joe Biden as the winner by 12,284 votes, a narrower margin than the 14,196-vote lead he held immediately following the election. The Trump campaign is expected to ask for another recount.

Week of awareness wraps up with Transgender Day of Remembrance

On Friday, Transgender Awareness Week, which promotes transgender visibility and highlights issues the community faces, concludes with the observance of Transgender Day of Remembrance. That is a day to honor the memory of transgender people who were killed in anti-transgender acts of violence. It comes after a disturbing year for the community: At least 34 transgender or gender-nonconforming people were killed as a result of violence this year, most of them Black and Latino women. But there have also been high points. President-elect Joe Biden, who spoke for transgender rights at a town hall, has vowed to eliminate discriminatory executive orders from President Donald Trump and has made LGBTQ equality part of his platform. Voters also gave at least eight transgender, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming state candidates victories on Election Day, including tapping the nation's first openly transgender state senator.

NBA's offseason sprint continues with free agency set to begin

NBA free agency usually is a wild and chaotic time as it is as teams come to agreements with players quickly before the dust settles and play starts months later. But due to the coronavirus pandemic reeking havoc on the NBA – and all sports – a hectic and fast free-agent window opens at 6 p.m. ET Friday, just two days after the NBA draft, less than two days before signings can start and about a week and a half before training camps open. This free-agent class isn't filled with stars and only a few teams have plenty of available salary-cap space to sign players easily. But more than 100 NBA players are unrestricted free agents and another 75 or so can be restricted free agents. That's a lot of players, who might be doing a lot of moving. Key unrestricted free agents to keep an eye on include forwards Gordon Hayward and Danilo Gallinari and guards Fred VanVleet and Goran Dragic.

Megan Thee Stallion, BTS set to release new albums

Megan Thee Stallion is here to put her truth (literally) on the record with her debut studio album. Out Friday, "Good News" focuses on the power of writing your own story and sends a message about the necessity of listening to Black women's voices. The visuals from the rollout – where the rapper, whose real is name Megan Pete, stands with headlines all around her while holding a newspaper – are a nod to the constant swirl of news surrounding her. And in more music news: After months of anticipation, BTS' latest album, "BE," is set to drop Friday. "BE" is BTS' second album this year. Members RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook released "Map of the Soul: 7" in February.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michigan officials in DC, Georgia's election: 5 things to know Friday

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