Axios

A day after President Trump's "60 Minutes" interview, in which he said there'd be "severe punishment" if Saudi Arabia were responsible for the alleged murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, he appeared to give the Saudis an out:

"The king firmly denied any knowledge of it. ... It sounded to me like these could have been rogue killers, who knows?"

Between the lines: That a team of "rogue killers" would infiltrate the Saudi consulate and murder an opponent of the regime seems a pretty far-fetched explanation, particularly as the Washington Post has reported that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman himself sought to lure Khashoggi back to the kingdom for capture. But Trump isn't the only one who seems to be offering the Saudis a graceful way out.

So far this cycle there's been more than $124 million spent on over 280,000 ads about immigration in House, Senate, and gubernatorial races, per CNN. That's five times what was spent on immigration-related TV ads in the entire 2014 midterm cycle.

Why it matters: Immigration doesn't show up as the number one issue in polls, but the ad spending by both parties suggests it'll be seared in voters' mind come Nov. 6. And both sides are hoping it'll energize their base.

Former Senate Intelligence Committee staffer James Wolfe pleaded guilty on Monday to lying to the FBI about his communication with reporters, CNN reports.

Why it matters: Until this point, Wolfe's lawyers had vowed to fight the charges, per Buzzfeed. His guilty plea allows lawyers to avoid having to decide whether they can or should subpoena members of the media. President Trump referred to Wolfe's arrest earlier this year, saying federal prosecutors had "caught a leaker," but the former staffer didn't plead guilty to leaking classified information — only to lying to the FBI.

Go deeper: The allegations against Wolfe

This is a smart way to think about last week's stock shock: "Here’s Why More Scares Are Ahead for the Stock Market, by Ben Levisohn of Barron's.

What we're reading: "When stocks bounced on Friday, it delayed a true washout, but there are likely to be more scares, more drops, more pain, before stocks start heading higher again. 'The process can look like a shampoo commercial,' says Christopher Harvey, head of equity and quant strategy at Wells Fargo Securities. 'Lather (selloff), rinse (rebalance), and repeat.'"

Sears Holdings filed for bankruptcy Monday as a $134 million debt payment came due, per CNBC.

The details: The once-mighty retail giant will have its CEO Eddie Lampert step down but remain as chairman as Mohsin Meghji takes over as chief restructuring officer. It'll also close 142 more Sears and Kmart stores before the end of the year, accelerating a trend for the company that's seen hundreds of unprofitable stores shut down.

It feels like the Cold War is back. States are engaging in shadowy extrajudicial killings on foreign soil, even as the world watches the rise of authoritarian strongmen like Rodrigo Duterte, in the Philippines, and Jair Bolsonaro, in Brazil.

What's happening: Bolsonaro handily won the first round of presidential elections last week and is expected to similarly win the runoff on Oct. 28. Brazil's stock market jumped 6% at Monday's open, greeting the election result with glee, although it then fell back in line with global stock-market losses.

Former CIA Director John Brennan told NBC News' Chuck Todd on Sunday that Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has been given "increased confidence" by his relationship with the White House, which may explain his alleged action against journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The big picture: The White House is still considering responses to the disappearance and potential murder of Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi Arabia. Trump said there would be "severe punishment" if the kingdom is found to be at fault, but has been vocally opposed to cutting off arms deals. Brennan said Trump is "siding up to authoritarian leaders around the globe ... condemnation of the press that's critical of him, [and] continued dishonesty and denials of reality ... has encouraged MBS to go along this road."