What to know now:
1. U.S. knows source: An official who claims to be familiar with a classified intelligence report says the United States knows who provided WikiLeaks with the emails hacked from the accounts of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign chair John Podesta. According to the source, U.S. intelligence agencies have identified the go-between the Russians used to get the information to WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has denied the information came from Russia.
2. Intelligence report: On Friday, president-elect Donald Trump will hear the intelligence report that officials say points clearly to Russia's involvement in the hacking of emails from the DNC and John Podesta. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, CIA Director John Brennan and FBI Director James Comey will be briefing Trump on the motives for Moscow's alleged involvement in the hacking. The report they will be giving Trump is the one delivered to President Obama on Thursday.
3. Oh, grow up: Vice president Joe Biden has a bit of advice for Donald Trump. Biden, speaking on "PBS NewsHour" suggested the incoming president should "grow up." "You're president. You've got to do something. Show us what you have," Biden said in the interview. Biden also said there was no problems with the transition between President Barack Obama's administration and the incoming Trump administration, despite Trump's tweets on the matter.
4. Van Susteren to MSNBC: Greta Van Susteren is returning to television, but not at the Fox network. Van Susteren will be anchoring a show on rival MSNBC at 6 p.m. ET nightly. Her gig at MSNBC begins on Monday. In addition to working for Fox, Van Susteren has also worked for CNN.
5. Sears, Kmart closings: Sears Holding, the parent company of Sears and Kmart department stores, announced Thursday that it will be closing 150 stores in 40 states. Most of the stores set to close (108) will be Kmarts, the rest Sears. According to reports, holiday sales were down 12 percent for the company. In addition to the store closings, Sears also sold its iconic Craftsman tool business for $900 million.
And one more
Despite what you may think, today is really the day Donald Trump's election as president becomes official. The Congress will meet in a joint session Friday to officially count and accept the vote of the Electoral College. They will, that is, if everything goes off without a hitch. According to some reports, there are 10 House members who plan to contest Trump's win. So far, no senators have said they will join in a protest of the results. The result of the count will be announced by Vice President Joe Biden. The joint session begins at 1 p.m. ET.
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