Good morning. I'm James Helmin from The Washington Post and this is the Daily

202 for Monday, January 4th. In today's news, the US death toll from COVID

surpasses 350,000 as the vaccine rollout stumbles.

President Trump's deregulatory push has made the pandemic worse.

And Iran begins enriching uranium to 20%

in new violation of the nuclear deal.

But first, the big idea.

President Trump urged fellow Republican Brad Raffinsberger, the Georgia Secretary of State,

to find enough votes to overturn his defeat in an extraordinary one-hour phone call

on Saturday that legal scholars describe as a flagrant abuse of power and a

potential criminal act.

Trump did most of the talking.

He was angry and impatient, calling Raffinsberger a child.

He said law enforcement officials are either dishonest or incompetent for not finding

widespread ballot fraud in Atlanta.

My colleague Amy Gardner obtained a full recording of the conversation in which Trump berated Raffinsberger, then tried to

flatter him, then begged him to act, and then threatened him with vague criminal

consequences if he refuses to pursue the false claims.

Trump warned at one point that Raffinsberger is taking a big risk.

Throughout the call, Raffinsberger and his office's general counsel reject Trump's assertions explaining in detail

that the president is relying on debunked conspiracy theories. They explain that

President-elect Joe Biden's 11,779 vote victory in Georgia was fair and accurate.

...