Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious diseases expert, told CNN on Monday that the Trump campaign should stop airing an ad that uses comments he made without his permission and out of context.
Why it matters: Fauci describes himself as apolitical and says he has never endorsed a political candidate in five decades of public service. He later told The Daily Beast there's "not a chance" that he would resign if the Trump campaign continued to feature him, but added, "By doing this against my will, they are in effect harassing me."
Senators seem to be on the same page on Supreme Court Justice nominee Amy Coney Barrett after Day 1 of the confirmation hearings.
Why it matters: Republicans appear to have the votes to confirm Barrett before the election, and both parties are turning her confirmation into a get-out-the-vote effort.
Roberta McCain, the mother of former Sen. John McCain, has passed away at 108 years old, Cindy McCain announced Monday.
What she's saying: "It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my wonderful Mother In-law, Roberta McCain. I couldn’t have asked for a better role model or a better friend. She joins her husband Jack, her son John and daughter Sandy," tweeted Cindy McCain.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) acknowledged on Monday that Democrats do not have "some secret, clever, procedural way to stop" the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, arguing that the only way for Americans to "change the trajectory of this nomination" is by voting.
The big picture: Klobuchar and other Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee used day one of Barrett's confirmation hearings to criticize the process of rushing through a nomination after voting in the 2020 election has already begun, attacking it as a "sham" and "illegitimate."
Sen. Kamala Harris condemned the confirmation process for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett as both "illegitimate" and "reckless," citing the more than 9 million Americans who have already voted in the 2020 election and the coronavirus risks that have prompted the Senate to suspend all other floor business.
Why it matters: Harris, who is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee in addition to being Joe Biden's running mate, encapsulated the Democrats' strategic message for the confirmation fight on the first day of Barrett's hearings on Monday.
The Trump campaign is launching a new "eight-figure" advertising campaign this week that focuses, in part, on recovering President Trump's standing among senior citizens, according to top officials.
Why it matters: Senior citizens are the most reliable voting bloc and they formed the core of Trump's political base in 2016. But that's no longer the case.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows refused to speak to reporters outside Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation hearing on Monday after they requested that he keep his face mask on.
Why it matters: Meadows has been working out of the White House, which has become a hotspot for the coronavirus over the past two weeks.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) attended the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett in person and gave his opening statement without a mask, a little more than a week after testing positive for the coronavirus.
Details: Lee told Hugh Hewitt on Monday he was cleared to attend the hearing in person from the Office of the Attending Physician. "I’ve gone through the appropriate number of days, and I’ve been keeping my temperature under control, and I’m no longer contagious," Lee said, explaining why he felt comfortable being in the committee room.
According to the latest Gallup poll, Americans' willingness get a coronavirus vaccine has dropped to 50% in late September, a dramatic 11-point fall from the previous month.
Why it matters: This steep drop is further evidence that the vaccine has been politicized. Republicans are now more willing to be vaccinated, while Democrats and independents have become increasingly uncomfortable.
Markets got a shot in the arm from fiscal stimulus expectations last week, but it's not negotiations between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Trump administration that's got investors' attention — it's the largesse of spending expected from Pelosi, President Joe Biden and a Democratic Senate in 2021.
What's happening: Trump's polling numbers have fallen through the floor since the first presidential debate on Sept. 29.
Two Stanford professors, Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson, on Monday won the Nobel Prize in economics for "improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats."
Why it matters: New auction formats have been used for radio spectrum, fishing quotas, aircraft landing slots and emissions allowances, Reuters reports.
Members of the Armenian American community protested in several U.S. cities over the weekend — with thousands attending the biggest rally in Los Angeles — as tensions mount between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Driving the news: Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed to a Russian-brokered ceasefire last Friday, but Al Jazeera reports that the truce has become "increasingly frayed," with both sides accusing the other of "serious violations and crimes against civilians."
In the next episode of "Axios on HBO," Axios co-founder Jim VandeHei speaks with Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) about where his and his colleagues' intense loyalty to President Trump comes from, and how it's enabled the transformation of the Republican Party.
Catch the full interview on Monday, Oct. 12 at 11:05 p.m. ET/PT on all HBO platforms, and you can always get more “Axios on HBO” in the Axios app.
