Biden names all-female communications team, health officials fear post-Thanksgiving Covid surge

Monday, November 30, 2020 Good morning, NBC News readers.    President-elect Joe Biden named an all-female communications team, President Donald Trump fell short in the Wisconsin recount he paid $3 million for and health officials brace for another Covid-19 surge.    Here is what we're watching this Monday morning.  Biden announces all-female communications team President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris announced an all-female communications team Sunday aimed at bringing "diverse perspectives" to the White House.   Jen Psaki, a top member of the transition team who served in the Obama-Biden administration, was chosen as White House press secretary.    Biden is also expected to tap several women to lead his economic team. He is expected to nominate Neera Tanden to lead the Office of Management and Budget and Cecilia Rouse to chair the Council of Economic Advisers, three people familiar with the process confirmed to NBC News on Sunday.   By filling out the top ranks of his communications and economics team with women, including several of color, Biden is living up to one of his campaign pledges to create an administration that reflects America's diversity.   The recount of presidential ballots in Wisconsin's two largest counties was completed Sunday and reconfirmed Biden's victory over President Trump in the key battleground state.   Despite the Trump campaign paying $3 million for the recount, the two counties barely budged Biden's winning margin of about 20,600 votes and ended up giving the president-elect a net gain of 87 votes. Trump vowed to challenge the outcome in court even before the recount concluded.   In other news, Biden suffered hairline fractures in his right foot over the weekend in an injury that is likely to require a walking boot for several weeks, his doctor said Sunday.   The fractures occurred Saturday while Biden was playing with Major, one of his two German shepherds.   And after weeks of delay, Biden is expected to receive his first classified Presidential Daily Briefing Monday.   Jen Psaki will lead the all-female White House communications team for the Biden administration.  Fauci warns Thanksgiving travel could worsen Covid-19 surge Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's leading infectious disease expert, warned that the travel-heavy Thanksgiving holiday could make the current surge in Covid-19 cases even worse as the country heads into December.   "What we expect, unfortunately, as we go for the next couple of weeks into December is that we might see a surge superimposed on the surge we are already in," Fauci said on NBC News' "Meet the Press" on Sunday.     "I don't want to frighten people except to say it's not too late at all for us to do something about this," he added, urging people to be careful when they travel back home and upon arriving and to take proven steps like social distancing and wearing masks.     Follow our live blog for all the latest Covid-19 developments.  Video: Dr. Fauci: "We might see a surge superimposed" on the current Covid-19 surge Jon Ossoff lost the first high-profile race of the Trump era. Can he win the last one? Jon Ossoff is ending the Trump era the same way he began it: as a young Democrat unexpectedly at the center of the political universe.   He lost his first run for office in June 2017, but the stakes then were largely symbolic. This time, some say, the fate of the country hangs in the balance on what will be the last election of the Trump era. No pressure.   "Jon ended up running an incredibly expensive and highly publicized race four years ago," said Atlanta City Council member Matt Westmoreland, a Democrat. "And now he's found himself in a race with even higher stakes and more money because control of the Senate is at stake." Democratic Senate candidate Jon Ossoff is running for a Senate seat in one of two January runoffs in Georgia that will "determine the direction of our country for the next 50 to 100 years," according to his Republican opponent, Sen. David Perdue. (Photo: Elijah Nouvelage / Bloomberg via Getty Images file  ) Uber made big promises in Kenya. Drivers say it's ruined their lives. At first, work as an Uber driver seemed to offer Harrison Munala everything he'd hoped for when he moved from a town in the western part of Kenya to its capital, Nairobi. Four years later, remembering those dreams makes him grimace. Uber slashed its fares — and Munala's income. It introduced new categories of cars, allowing smaller cars. And more and more drivers flooded the platform. "When you have a family to feed, kids to pay school fees for, rents to pay, a loan to pay and your work is too much and exploitative, what happens?" Munala said. "I felt like I made it in life," former Uber driver Harrison Munala said about when he started working for the rideshare company. But after the company slashed its fares, he was left with a pile of debt. (Photo: Nichole Sobecki / for NBC News) Want to receive the Morning Rundown in your inbox? Sign up here. Plus  The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Monday on Trump's plan to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census. Surveillance video was released after a series of "unprovoked attacks" in Massachusetts. "Good riddance": Tech's flight from San Francisco is a relief to some advocates. Deep in Trump country, Nevada's first openly gay, Latino mayor leads a blue-leaning city. Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year comes as no surprise: "pandemic." THINK about it  If Covid has made working from home our new normal, your boss and Uncle Sam should chip in, professor of public policy and chief economist at Rutgers University William M. Rodgers III writes in an opinion piece. Live BETTER  Thanksgiving leftover recipes that help beat the bloat. Shopping It's Cyber Monday: Here are the best deals.  One mysterious thing  In the same way a mysterious monolith appeared in rural Utah, it just as quickly and inexplicably disappeared, according to Utah's Bureau of Land Management.   It's now been replaced by a cairn, a stack mound of stones built as a memorial or landmark, where the 10-foot monolith once stood.    The BLM says they didn't remove it. So who did?  Video: Mystery grows around 10-foot monolith in the Utah desert now that it's vanished Thanks for reading the Morning Rundown.    If you have any comments — likes, dislikes — send me an email at: petra@nbcuni.com   If you're a fan, please forward it to your family and friends. They can sign-up here.    Thanks, Petra Cahill Download the NBC News App Follow NBC News Privacy | Unsubscribe | More NBC Newsletters | Contact View in browser