News Information and Media Site: Covid-19 claims 250,000 U.S. lives, Trump digs in for election battle and Pompeo visits an Israeli settlement

Thursday, November 19, 2020

Good morning, NBC News readers.

The United States has lost 250,000 souls in the battle against coronavirus. President Donald Trump and his allies dig in for a drawn out election battle. And Secretary of State Mike Pompeo breaks with decades of U.S. foreign policy tradition by visiting an Israeli settlement in the West Bank.

Here is what we're watching this Thursday morning.

A quarter of a million people have died from Covid-19 in the U.S.

Since February, more than 250,000 people have died of Covid-19 in the United States.

The U.S. is now counting more than 100,000 new cases a day as the virus surges across the country and the pandemic shows no signs of abating.

"Right now, we are in an absolutely dangerous situation that we have to take with the utmost seriousness," Dr. Brett Giroir, the Trump administration's coronavirus testing czar, told NBC News' Andrea Mitchell on Wednesday.

"This is not crying wolf. This is the worst rate of rise in cases that we have seen in the pandemic in the United States. And, right now, there's no sign of flattening."

Here are some other developments:

New York City is closing its public schools as of Thursday, citing the spread of Covid-19 infections. The shutdown of the nation's largest school system is a major setback for the city which has been in recovery-mode since it was the global epicenter of the pandemic in the spring.

The governors of Texas, Florida and South Dakota say they have no plans to shutdown their states.

More than 900 Mayo Clinic staff members in the Midwest have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in the past two weeks.

There are two promising Covid-19 vaccines on the horizon that could be available by the end of December. Here's what needs to happen before the vaccines can go from the laboratory to a shot in your arm.

"It's not enough to praise you. We have to protect you": President-elect Joe Biden held an emotionally charged virtual roundtable with front-line health care workers Wednesday.
Follow our live blog for all the latest coronavirus developments.

Video: As Covid-19 hospitalizations soar, doctors and nurses plead with public to wear masks

Trump's team tucks in for election fight to go on until December

While the coronavirus pandemic rages, President Donald Trump has been focused on his reelection battle.

Trump's allies are preparing for his legal fight over the election results to go on well into December, even as they continue to push him to accept a conclusion to his presidency and make post-White House plans, NBC News' White House correspondents report.

"The legal challenges are continuing, but those close to the president, and frankly the president, understand they're futile," a senior administration official said.

Nevertheless, Trump's campaign announced Wednesday that it filed a petition for a partial recount in Wisconsin, where he trails President-elect Joe Biden, the apparent winner of the state, by more than 20,000 votes. The long-shot bid to overturn the state's results will cost Trump's campaign $3 million.

Wisconsin's top elections chief and local officials have said there were no reports of widespread problems or wrongdoing.

Meantime, a few current and former Trump administration officials have privately reached out to Biden's transition team even as Trump continues to refuse to admit defeat, sources tell NBC News.

While Biden officials said they welcome the outreach, they stressed that it is not a replacement for the formal transition process that Trump officials have so far stymied.

Trump has scarcely been seen since Biden was projected to be the winner of the election nearly two weeks ago. (Photo: Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post via Getty Image)

Pompeo becomes first secretary of state to visit Israeli settlement

America's top diplomat Mike Pompeo made history Thursday becoming the first secretary of state and highest ranking U.S. official to visit an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank.

The visit is widely seen as Pompeo's last play to the Republicans' evangelical base as the most pro-settler administration in U.S. history nears its end and he looks ahead to a possible presidential run in 2024.

In Israel, it will be seen as a parting gift to the country's ideological right-wing and the settler community in the occupied West Bank, a contested region that was captured from Jordan in 1967.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Thursday. (Photo: Maya Alleruzzo/Reuters)

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Plus

Exclusive: The White House killed a deal to pay for mental health care for migrant families separated at the border.

Airlines will let 737 Max passengers change their tickets for free.

Prince William has welcomed an investigation into how the BBC secured a bombshell interview with his mother, Princess Diana, 25 years ago.

Phew. "A Charlie Brown Christmas" will air on TV after all. Thank you Apple and PBS.

THINK about it

How much damage can Trump do to U.S-Iran relations before he leaves office? A lot, director of The RedLines Project David Andelman writes in an opinion piece.

Live BETTER

Feeling like it's better to stay put over Thanksgiving due to COVID-19? Here's how to let your family down with love.

Shopping

From fitness trackers to the new Lego Colosseum set, here are some gifts to consider this year.

Quote of the day

"No one is happy about this decision,"

— New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on ordering the shutdown of city's schools.

One hoot thing

As we talked about yesterday, the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree brings joy to millions. But for one small owl it won't be home over the festive period

Thanks to one eagle-eyed worker who helped transport and secure the tree from upstate New York, a small owl won't be making midtown Manhattan his new home.

A tiny saw-whet owl that was found after the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was cut down, then trucked to New York City, is recovering at a wildlife rehabilitation facility.

A Ravensbeard Wildlife Center worker swaddles a saw-whet owl, the smallest owl in the northeast, that was rescued from the tree. His new nickname is "Rockefeller." (Photo: Courtesy Ravensbeard Wildlife Center)

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Thanks, Petra Cahill