Education is viewed as America’s great equalizer. But our segregated past supports barriers to quality education today.

A strong majority of Americans say our public education system is unequal, and half say the nation's schools aren't well equipped to help children of all races and ethnicities succeed, according to a new Axios-Ipsos survey.

Why it matters: As our nation becomes more diverse and confronts racial discrimination, Americans want our school systems to live up to the promise of providing a more equal opportunity for all children to succeed.

For all our fears about Terminator-style killer robots, the aim of AI in the U.S. military is likely to be on augmenting humans, not replacing them.

Why it matters: AI has been described as the "third revolution" in warfare, after gunpowder and nuclear weapons. But every revolution carries risks, and even an AI strategy that focuses on assisting human warfighters will carry enormous operational and ethical challenges.

President Trump's delay in transitioning "hurts out national security," John Kelly, Trump's former chief of staff, told Politico on Friday.

Why it matters: Trump has not publicly conceded to Joe Biden, and General Services Administration Administrator Emily Murphy — a Trump political appointee — has not signed documents declaring Biden the apparent winner, preventing his agency review teams from having access to the information they need in order to get to work.

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) announced on Twitter Friday that he tested positive for COVID-19 but is not currently experiencing symptoms associated with the virus.

Why it matters: Sisolak's diagnosis comes as Nevada experiences record new case numbers and makes him the fifth governor to contract the virus so far this year, according to AP.

Retailers and shippers are on a mad pre-holiday hiring spree, making them one of the few industries adding jobs during COVID-19.

Why it matters: With the entire country turning to online shopping, shippers across the U.S. are preparing for unprecedented package volumes — around 80 million per day between Thanksgiving and Christmas — and frustrating delays.

President Trump said Friday that “time will tell” who won the 2020 election, declining to concede the race in his first public remarks since it became clear he’d lost the election to Joe Biden.

What he's saying: "This administration will not be going into a lockdown," Trump said, insisting that so long as he is president there will not be a nationwide coronavirus lockdown. "Hopefully, whatever happens in the future — who knows which administration it will be. I guess time will tell," he added.

Rep. Steven Horsford will serve as a liaison between the Congressional Black Caucus and Joe Biden's transition team, pushing the caucus' interests with the incoming administration as head of the CBC's first-100-days task force, two sources familiar tell Axios and his office confirmed.

Why it matters: The Nevada Democrat’s role helps give the CBC more collective power when presenting personnel and policy recommendations to Biden's team. It comes at particularly crucial time when the transition team is starting to make staffing decisions, and several lawmakers are publicly and privately lobbying for African American representation in his Cabinet and throughout the administration.

With China belatedly congratulating Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on their election victory on Friday, the list of countries still declining to acknowledge Biden's victory is getting very short.

State of play: Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro, Mexico's Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Russia's Vladimir Putin are among the very few world leaders who say they're waiting for President Trump's legal challenges to play out. North Korea's Kim Jong-un is in a slightly larger group — those who've declined to comment on the results either way.

President Trump has won North Carolina, an important swing state in the race for the White House, AP projects.

The big picture: The call comes a week and a half after Election Day. North Carolina carries 15 electoral votes, giving Trump a total of 232 as of Friday. He won North Carolina by 3.6% in 2016. Sen. Thom Tillis (R) won re-election against Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham, AP projected earlier this week.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said on Friday that based on unofficial returns, she will not order a recount or recanvass of ballots cast in the 2020 election, including in the presidential race.

Why it matters: President Trump, who has not publicly conceded to President-elect Joe Biden, continues to litigate election results, including in Pennsylvania.

America's electoral infrastructure survived and thrived last week, despite pandemic complexities and President Trump's unfounded claims of widespread fraud. Yes, including software and machines made by Dominion Voting Systems.

Axios Re:Cap goes deeper with Mike Hanmer research director for the University of Maryland's Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement.

Corporate climate performance plays a role in how workers think about their employers, not to mention talent recruitment and loss, per a survey from KPMG and the law firm Eversheds Sutherlands.

Why it matters: The outlook from directors and top executives from hundreds of companies provides some interesting data points on how the corporate world is and isn't addressing climate change.

More than 130 Secret Service officers are quarantining due to positive coronavirus tests or exposure to a co-worker who has tested positive, the Washington Post reports.

Why it matters: Officials told the Post that they believe the cases at least partly stem from President Trump's run of campaign rallies before Election Day. The number of officers forced off-duty — roughly 10% of its core security team — could stress the Secret Service at large, forcing overtime and missed days off to make up for the strain.

Joe Biden's presidency could bring new efforts to use regulation on Wall Street and action from the Fed and the Treasury to press big companies to take climate change more seriously.

Why it matters: There's a lot of pent-up interest in employing financial regulation to promote better disclosure of climate-related risks and to pressure companies to cut emissions.

DoorDash filed Friday for its IPO, which is expected to price in the window between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The state of play: There's a lot more noise than signal because of the pandemic.

Judy Shelton looks to be within striking distance of getting a seat on the Federal Reserve Board.

Why it matters: Her political background is unprecedented for a Fed candidate, and threatens the central bank's critical apolitical stance.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin on Friday congratulated President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris on their election victory, saying that China "respected the choice of the American people" but noting that the results were still to be finalized "in accordance with U.S. laws and procedures."

Why it matters: China had been one of the few global holdouts, leading to speculation that Beijing was wary of provoking President Trump. China's move comes a day after Biden held calls with U.S. allies in the Asia-Pacific. It leaves Brazil, Mexico, North Korea and Russia as three of the only major geopolitical players still waiting to acknowledge Biden's win.

Recovering from the coronavirus does not necessarily mean you'll bounce back to your old, pre-infection self: Most people who survived a severe infection were still dealing with some combination of physical, emotional and financial pain weeks later.

Driving the news: That's the conclusion from researchers who tracked more than 1,600 people who were hospitalized for coronavirus infections in Michigan. Their findings were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

President Trump is pushing the Senate to confirm his hand-picked nominee for a seat on the Federal Communications Commission, but people familiar with the state of play on Capitol Hill don't expect him to get his wish.

Why it matters: The FCC oversees broadband internet rules, media ownership regulation and other policies that hold special importance to the president. A Trump-aligned commissioner could likely agitate for greater agency involvement in how online platforms moderate speech and otherwise extend Trump's influence into the Biden administration.

Sen. David Perdue, whose upcoming runoff election in Georgia could help determine which party controls the Senate, has been President Trump’s top loyalist in the upper chamber, according to the "Axios on HBO" Trump Loyalty Index.

Why it matters: In the wake of a presidential election largely seen as a referendum on Trump, Perdue’s unbreakable allegiance to the president effectively makes Trump an issue again in the runoff.

A host of alarming new signs suggest that the U.S. economy is on track to deteriorate even faster than had been forecast. A huge reason: A year-end COVID rescue package now looks unlikely.

Why it matters: One of the biggest failures of the current administration and Congress will be a Day One problem for President-elect Joe Biden — and an urgent test of his theory that Republicans will be more willing to work with him once President Trump is gone.

The vaccine news airlines have been waiting for arrived this week, raising hopes for a recovery in passenger air travel — but only if the crippled industry can muster the resources to deliver billions of life-saving doses to the world.

Why it matters: A vaccine could restore the public's trust in flying — if it's widely available — and airlines themselves will play a crucial role in what UNICEF calls the world’s largest and fastest vaccine distribution effort in history.

With political polls looking close to useless, newsrooms are increasingly turning to internet trends, demographics and local news in an effort to crack America’s baffling political code.

Why it matters: This election proved that polls aren't the only way to measure public opinion trends — and that other measures, like social media, may give us a window into enthusiasm among populations that polls are missing.