Two polls released Monday (from Quinnipiac University and CNN/SSRS) put President Trump's approval rating below 40%, despite Americans' satisfaction with strong economic growth.
Why it matters: Voters seem certain the U.S. economy is strong, but as the midterm elections approach, "a majority of voters either do not associate [the economy] with Trump, the Republican Party's leading figure, or disapprove of the president for other reasons," per CNBC. And while November is still weeks away, these figures should serve as a red flag to the administration.
HCA Healthcare CEO Milton Johnson will retire from the company at the end of 2018, and HCA President Sam Hazen will become the new chief executive, the company said in a statement Monday.
Why it matters: HCA is the country's largest for-profit hospital chain and is a bellwether of patient volumes and other important hospital trends. Johnson stands to make at least $46 million from his retirement, based on the company's latest proxy filing.
CBS' Les Moonves was the most powerful man in TV until yesterday, and Dan breaks it all down with Axios media reporter Sara Fischer. Plus, in his "Final Two," Dan discusses the retirement of Alibaba's Jack Ma and the rise of robot restaurants.
ATTN:, the progressive social media-based news outlet aimed at millennials, is launching a 10-episode IGTV series hosted by former Vice President Joe Biden.
Why it matters: Former elected officials and journalists are becoming more involved in efforts to target millennials to bolster turnout ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.
Chinese auto manufacturer Geely, which acquired Volvo in 2010, will delay its plans to take the Swedish car company public over fears of a global trade war, reports the FT.
The big picture: Volvo has already moved production of its XC60 sports utility vehicles for the U.S. market from China to Sweden to avoid tariffs. But with President Trump threatening to slap a 25% tax on EU auto imports amid further escalation with China, Geely was concerned that investors would see the carmaker's stock drop after its IPO — due to be the largest on the Swedish stock market since 2000.
CBS Corporation announced Sunday night that longtime leader Les Moonves will depart as chairman, president, and CEO. The announcement comes just hours after a second Ronan Farrow report in The New Yorker in which six more women alleged sexual misconduct by the television veteran.
Why it matters: Moonves is one of the most high-profile executives to be brought down by the #MeToo movement. His departure comes after weeks of inaction from CBS' board, which had drawn a great deal of criticism from advocacy groups.
Six more women have levied accusations of sexual misconduct against CBS CEO Les Moonves, prompting reports that Moonves, who has been with the company for over 20 years, will be out of a job very soon. The new allegations were first reported by Ronan Farrow in The New Yorker.
Why it matters: When the first round of misconduct allegations against Moonves were published last month by Farrow, CBS' board stood by his side, letting the veteran television executive continue to run the company and be its public face for weeks. Now, reports suggest that the board will move quickly to remove Moonves from power.
Wage growth, up 2.9% in August from the year before, was the standout figure in Friday's jobs report.
Why it matters: For almost a decade, weak wage growth has defied the economic recovery and has bedeviled workers. Perhaps no longer, according to Joseph Song, an economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Song predicts this is just the beginning of "better wage dynamics," and it could continue in coming months.
The fallout from last week's anonymous New York Times op-ed continued Sunday with administration officials and lawmakers taking to the morning news shows to offer their reactions.
The big picture: Among loyal members of the Trump administration, the message was clear: The author of the op-ed is a coward who could pose a threat to national security and should resign. Trump critics, meanwhile, are largely of the opinion that the op-ed shines a truthful light on the dysfunction of the White House — and that the idea that top officials would even consider invoking the 25th Amendment is extremely troubling.
Six additional women have accused CBS CEO Les Moonves of sexual harassment and assault, according to a new report from Ronan Farrow in The New Yorker.
The big picture: The allegations include claims that Moonves forced the women "to perform oral sex on him, that he exposed himself to them without their consent, and that he used physical violence and intimidation against them." Moonves acknowledged three of the encounters in Farrow's piece, but claimed they were consensual. CBS is currently conducting its own investigation into Moonves' conduct.
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon told Reuters that last week's anonymous New York Times op-ed from a senior Trump administration official amounts to a "coup."
"What you saw the other day was as serious as it can get. This is a direct attack on the institutions. This is a coup, okay."
The big picture: Like his pro-Trump documentary set to premiere ahead of this fall's midterm elections, Bannon's comments are likely another way to get the president's attention. But, as Axios' Jonathan Swan reported last month, Trump still has a great deal of personal animus toward Bannon — and most White House officials and senior Republicans in Congress feel the same way.
President Trump has a sudden competitor for airtime: CNN and MSNBC covered President Obama's first 2018 campaign rally Saturday as if he were in a general-election race with his successor.
Be smart, from N.Y. Times' Adam Nagourney: "Obama’s decision to enter the fray ... could very well, as some Democrats acknowledge, energize Republican ... voters ... But he made clear his main goal [yesterday] was getting Democrats and independents, who are a big bloc of voters [in Orange County], to turn out."
The whodunit over the Trump administration's "anonymous" hinges on the word "senior." The New York Times describes its mysterious Op-Ed contributor as "a senior official in the Trump administration."
The big question: But how senior is "senior"? Does the author meet what the "Morning Joe" hosts called the "household name" test? Or is this actually a swampier, murkier version of "senior"?
