Microsoft on Sunday night announced via a blog post that its takeover offer for TikTok's U.S. operations has been rejected by TikTok's parent company, China's ByteDance.
Next up: Oracle is the only publicly known bidder left for TikTok U.S., which soon faces a White House deadline to either agree to a deal or be banned.
Sen. Bernie Sanders is urging the Biden campaign to focus more on the economy and not “just go after Trump."
Why it matters: Sanders had been privately grousing about the Biden campaign and even urged the campaign to “intensify its focus on pocketbook issues and appeals to liberal voters,” according to a Washington Post story that popped on Saturday.
Joe Biden is seeding his advisory boards and transition team with center-left economists and Black and Hispanic leaders as he prepares to confront income inequality and racial disparities exacerbated by the pandemic.
Why it matters: The Democratic nominee is signaling that if he wins in November, his administration may pivot away from the pro-Wall Street sentiment that pervades not just Trump's White House, but also reigned in Bill Clinton’s and Barack Obama’s administrations.
We're about two weeks away from a government shutdown, as Congress and the White House remain deadlocked in negotiations over another coronavirus relief bill.
The latest: Negotiations between House and Senate leadership and the White House over a continuing resolution are expected to begin in earnest next week when the House returns from recess. Remember this deadline: Midnight on Oct. 1.
A sheriff's deputy in Georgia was fired on Sunday for "excessive use of force" after videos surfaced on social media showing him pinning and repeatedly punching Roderick Walker, a Black man, while attempting to detain him this past Friday.
The state of play: The Clayton County sheriff had ordered a bond courtesy for Walker, but it was rejected because he has a felony probation warrant out for "cruelty to children, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and a failure to appear," according to the sheriff's office. Walker received medical treatment and is currently being monitored in jail.
The National Rifle Association has spent $9.2 million on political expenditures this cycle, about one-sixth of the $54.4 million reported in 2016, according to Federal Election Commission data tracked by Open Secrets.
Why it matters: While the group has vowed to support President Trump's re-election, mounting fees from fights with regulators, internal infighting and the pandemic have devastated its finances — and could mute its future influence.
President Trump plans to hold a fully indoor rally, where thousands are expected, for the first time in three months on Sunday in Henderson, Nevada, CNN reports.
Why it matters: The rally, which will be held at an Xtreme Manufacturing facility, is expected to violate Nevada's restrictions on gatherings of 50 or more people.
Oracle has leapfrogged Microsoft as the most likely buyer of TikTok's U.S. operations, according to multiple sources familiar with the process. But the situation remains very fluid, including the possibility of no deal at all.
[Update: Several hours after this story was published, Microsoft announced via blog post that its takeover offer has been rejected.]
Key questions: What exactly is for sale, and could President Trump accept a deal in which some of TikTok's core technology remains with Chinese parent company ByteDance?
Sue Gordon, former principal deputy director of national intelligence, told CBS News' "Face the Nation" Sunday that President Trump's message that the electoral system can't be trusted "is exactly what the Russians particularly hope to achieve."
Why it matters: Trump's critics have repeatedly said the president is undermining the elections by sowing distrust into Americans. He has previously claimed, with no evidence, that voting by mail leads to widespread voter fraud.
Former FBI agent Peter Strzok said on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday that Rudy Giuliani's work with a Ukrainian lawmaker who was sanctioned by the U.S. last week for pro-Russian election interference is part of a "pervasive pattern of contact" that Trump associates have had with Russia.
The big picture: Strzok led the FBI's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and worked for special counsel Robert Mueller before being removed and later fired by the FBI for sending text messages critical of President Trump.
Michael Osterholm, a renowned infectious-disease expert and the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday that leaders must tell the truth when it comes to public health and that "telling the truth never causes panic."
Why it matters: Host Chuck Todd asked Osterholm if President Trump had made a mistake by not being upfront with the American people about the dangers of COVID-19 and the threat of a pandemic. In an interview for Bob Woodward's new book "Rage," Trump said that he was purposefully "playing it down" so as not to create a "panic."
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) told CBS News' "Face the Nation" Sunday that the massive fires devastating the West Coast are a result of "decades of mismanagement of our forests in this country" as well as "the failure to tackle climate change."
Why it matters: President Trump has also insisted that the fires were "about forest management," but he's dismissed climate change. There's been a chorus of voices in the West Coast calling Trump out for his climate change policies or lack of.
Senior Biden campaign adviser Symone Sanders said former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris know there is still work to do as they court Latino and Hispanic voters around the country, while speaking with ABC's George Stephanopoulos on Sunday.
The big picture: Latinos will be the largest non-white voting bloc in the 2020 election for the first time in history. Hispanic and Latino voters make up more than 20% of the electorate in Florida and Arizona, two swing states that President Trump won in 2016.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee told ABC's "This Week" on Sunday that the primary way Americans can combat misinformation about the wildfires ravaging the West Coast is to vote out "any politician like Donald Trump who has downplayed climate change."
Joe Biden promised in an interview with CNN that he will be "totally transparent" about all facets of his health if elected president.
Why it matters: Biden, who will be 78 in November, would be the oldest president in U.S. history. The Trump campaign has sought to cast doubt on Biden's mental faculties and physical fitness for office — attacks that the former vice president has frequently laughed off.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Sunday rebuked President Trump over his claims that the California wildfires are simply a result of poor forest management, telling CNN's "State of the Union": "This is climate change, and this is an administration that's put its head in the sand."
Why it matters: There's a scientific consensus that climate change and the hotter and drier conditions it brings are among the forces that increase fire risks and severity. President Trump has questioned the existence of human-caused climate change and has started the process of withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement.
Billionaire Mike Bloomberg plans to spend at least $100 million to help Joe Biden win Florida in November's election, the Washington Post reports.
Why it matters: Taking Florida would be close to a knockout blow by Biden, who could then win the election outright by retaining all the states that Hillary Clinton won in 2016 and defeating President Trump in one of the following swing states: Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina or Arizona.
Two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies were critically wounded in a shooting after being "ambushed as they sat in their patrol vehicle" in Compton, California, Saturday, the department tweeted.
Details: Police were looking for the gunman, who "opened fire without warning or provocation," per the department. Sheriff Alex Villanueva told a news briefing one of the deputies is a 31-year-old mother and the other is a 24-year-old man.
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