Biden prepares for inauguration on Trump's last full day in office

President-elect Joe Biden paid tribute to the thousands of lives lost to the Covid-19 pandemic at a memorial held by the reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial at the National Mall in Washington, DC.

Biden began his remarks by thanking a Michigan nurse, Lori Marie Key, who sang "Amazing Grace" at the memorial.

"If there are any angels in heaven, they're all nurses. We know from our family experience what you do, the courage and the pain you absorb for others. So, thank you. Thank you," Biden said.

"To heal, we must remember. It's hard sometimes to remember, but that's how we heal. It's important to do that as nation. That's why we're here today. Between sundown and dusk let us shine the lights in the darkness along the sacred pool of reflection and remember all those who we lost," Biden said before introducing Yolanda Adams, who performed "Hallelujah."

The National Mall along with other places of significance around the country lit up in honor of Covid-19 victims.

Watch the moment:

Lori Marie Key shared her experience working as a Covid-19 nurse before performing "Amazing Grace" at tonight's memorial service.

Key went on to perform "Amazing Grace."

Watch the moment:

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris reflected on the grief of many who have lost loved ones to coronavirus during the pandemic in her remarks at a memorial tonight.

“For many months we grieved by ourselves. Tonight we grieve and begin healing together,” she said.

Watch Harris speak:

Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the Catholic Archbishop of Washington, began the national Covid-19 memorial service by grieving more than 400,000 Americans who have died in the coronavirus pandemic so far. 

Gregory also noted the cruel nature of the virus which has deprived so many Americans of the chance to fully grieve their loved ones 

"We pray for the countless families and relatives who had to surrender their loved ones without the comfort and the consolation of a familiar funeral ritual according to their religious traditions or selections," he said. "That privation only added to the sadness engendered by the death of a friend, a relative, or a colleague."

President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are mourning the victims of Covid-19 at a memorial at the Lincoln Memorial's reflecting pool on the National Mall.

The memorial comes as the US passes 400,000 coronavirus deaths and records more than 24 million cases since the start of the pandemic.

Hundreds of towns, cities and communities across the country plan to join in the solemn tribute with lighting ceremonies of their own at buildings from the Empire State Building in New York to the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington.

Biden is joined by his wife Jill Biden, Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff.

Hundreds of sites across the country will be lit up to coincide with the Covid-19 memorial that President-elect Joe Biden, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and their families are attending tonight.

In addition to the previously announced Space Needle and Empire State Building, the memorial will include Scranton City Hall in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware, and Oakland City Hall in Harris’ native California — along with Wrigley Field in Chicago, Ford Motor World Headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, and other locations. 

According to a source familiar, here’s a look at some of the other sites that will be illuminated:

CNN's Arlette Saenz has more:

Two uniforms stolen from a US Army soldier’s car Tuesday morning led to an alert to law enforcement in the Washington area though authorities said it "was not a targeted theft,” according to a copy of the alert obtained by CNN and Anne Arundel County Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Kam Cooke.

The alert was sent out of an abundance of caution due to the security precautions surrounding Wednesday’s inaugural, according to the notification.  

The Anne Arundel County Police sent out the "criminal intel alert" describing the soldier's Army fatigue and military dress uniforms that were lifted out of his unlocked car in the Washington suburb.

Cooke emphasized to CNN that the theft "was not targeted." Cooke said that other vehicles on the block were also broken into, including the victim's mother's car.

"Someone was going down the street shaking the handles of vehicles and got into a few of them," Cooke told CNN. 

This week, the FBI warned other law enforcement agencies that QAnon adherents discussed acting as National Guard soldiers in Washington to try and infiltrate President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, according to a report in the Washington Post.

The alert also comes on the heels of hundreds of pro-Trump extremists that invaded the US Capitol earlier this month in an attempt to stop the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's election win. 

The unidentified soldier's credentialed clothing was inside a suitcase that was inside his car that he happened to leave unlocked, Cooke said. Cooke did not confirm the soldier's name, if his or her name was sewed onto the stolen articles of clothing, or if the soldier was involved with security at the US Capitol.

As a part of protocol, Cooke said, this matter was passed along to Maryland's Fusion Center and to the Anne Arundel County intelligence officers to handle the ongoing investigation. 

Less than 24 hours before Joe Biden is set to become president, Facebook continues to show ads for tactical gear despite vowing to ban those promotions ahead of the inauguration.

A review by CNN and other internet users this week showed that ads for body armor, holsters and other equipment were being displayed on the platform as late as Tuesday afternoon. 

Often, the advertised products are pictured alongside guns, ammunition, or people clad in camouflage fatigues. 

The ads have frequently appeared in the timelines of military veterans and contribute to a false narrative of an imminent violent conflict in the United States, according to Kristofer Goldsmith, founder and president of High Ground Veterans Advocacy. 

"They’re selling the idea of pending violence, or inevitable violence, and that’s the kind of thing that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy," said Goldsmith. 

In one example still on Facebook Tuesday afternoon, a pair of noise-reducing earbuds was being advertised as a form of active hearing protection, shown inserted in the ears of a gunman aiming down his rifle sights. 

Another ad, for body armor, promises consumers that the product can shield them from bullets, knives, stun guns and other threats. 

A third series of ads, for hard-knuckled gloves, showed a man wearing desert camouflage and a tactical rig performing various tests on the gloves, including punching concrete walls, breaking a glass bottle by hand and rubbing broken glass on the gloves’ palms.

"They put people in combat gear in a civilian setting," Goldsmith said of the ads. "They’re promoting this image of, ‘You need to get ready for combat.'"

Asked for comment, Facebook referred CNN to its earlier blog post announcing that it will ban "ads that promote weapon accessories and protective equipment" in the United States through at least Jan. 22.

After Facebook introduced the ban on Saturday, BuzzFeed News reported the following day that some ads for tactical gear were still active. Many of the ads observed by CNN had been active, in some cases, for months. Others had been launched within the past week.

Facebook has removed some of the advertisements CNN found, including a series of ads for armored plates and plate carriers. The plates had, in some cases, been shown being held by heavily muscular individuals dressed in fatigues or being inserted into camouflage-patterned backpacks. 

Another now-removed series of body armor ads included marketing copy that claimed specific levels of protection under the rubric established by the National Institute of Justice. 

Veterans are a popular target for misinformation and conspiracy theorists, Goldsmith said, because as a group they enjoy political and social authority. An endorsement by a veteran can reinforce a conspiracy theory's apparent credibility.

"If you change the mind of a veteran, there’s a good chance you change the minds of those within that veteran’s immediate circle — friends, family, coworkers," said Goldsmith. 

The Senate adjourned until 4:30 p.m. tomorrow afternoon, when new leadership will take over.

At that point, Chuck Schumer is expected to be Senate majority leader after the three new Democratic senators are sworn in and after Kamala Harris becomes vice president.