In Transition: Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone and agreed to try to improve relations, according to a statement that came not from Trump, but the Kremlin. The statement said there’s an “absolutely unsatisfactory state of bilateral relations.”

Of course, relations went seriously sour when Russia annexed Crimea, sent troops into Ukraine, and established military forces in Syria to prop up the dictator Bashar al-Assad. Russia was accused during the campaign of hacking email accounts and trying to steer the election toward Trump.

At home, former NY Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, considered the favorite for Attorney General, is now being mentioned as the favorite for Secretary of State.

Trump is taking heavy fire for appointing the right-winger Steve Bannon to be his chief strategist in the White House. Democrats and civil rights activists are appalled that a man associated with the “alt-right” and the white power movement will be advising the president.

Defending Bannon, Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, said, “He has got a Harvard business degree. He’s a Naval officer. He has success in entertainment.” She called him a “brilliant tactician.” He also ran the viciously right-wing Breitbart News.

The Southern Poverty Law center says, “The alt-right, as we know, is simply a rebranding of white nationalism and is the energy behind the avalanche of racist and anti-Semitic harassment that plagued social media platforms for the entire presidential campaign.”

All in the Family: CBS News reports that the Trump team is seeking top security clearance for his three adult children, even though they were not elected to anything and so far are not likely to be named to jobs in the administration. They are also expected to keep running his company, which has major foreign interests that mighty benefit or be hurt by decisions made in the White House.

Lame Duck: President Obama jetted off to Greece last night for the last foreign trip of his presidency. During a press conference earlier in the day Obama said the Democratic Party, and therefore the Clinton campaign, failed to spread the word where to the voters who needed to hear it. “I believe that we have better ideas,” Obama said. “But I also believe that good ideas don’t matter if people don’t hear them.” He went on, “Given population distribution across the country, we have to compete everywhere. We have to show up everywhere.”

Nation: Late season wildfires are plaguing the southeast. Residents have been evacuated in North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee. A particularly stubborn fire is burning its way up a gorge above Chimney Rock, NC.

>A Wisconsin judge has ordered the release of Brendan Dassey, a central figure in the Netflix series, Making a Murderer. Judge William Duffin had thrown out Dassey’s murder conviction in August, but he was being held while prosecutors appealed.

The Obit Page: Gwen Ifil, co-host of the PBS NewsHour and a veteran of the New York Times, The Washington Post and NBC News, died of cancer at age 61. With Judy Woodruff, Ifil was a member of the first all-female anchor team in network news. She hosted three presidential debates, including a primary debate last spring with Woodruff between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders.

Lions Clipped: Columbia University has suspended the season for its wrestling team after the discovery that team members swapped racist, anti-gay, and anti-female text messages. The texts were posted on the website of Bwog, an independent student-run news website.

Honoraria: It’s not uncommon for people to give money to a charity in the name of someone they like or admire. After the election of Donald Trump raised the likelihood that the federal government will stop giving money to Planned Parenthood. Donations have been pouring in, and Planned Parenthood says many have been given in the name of Vice President-elect Mike Pence, one of Planned Parenthood’s biggest enemies.

-30-