HURRICANE HARVEY
The rain continued this morning in the flooded areas in and around Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city. Harvey was the fiercest hurricane to hit the U.S. in 13 years. More than 20 inches of rain has fallen as Harvey lingered after making landfall late Friday as a Category 4 storm. (NBC News)
Five deaths were being attributed to Harvey. There have also been widespread power outages, and thousands of high-water rescues, evoking memories of the helicopter and boat extractions during the devastating flooding from Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana in 2005. (NY Times)
Flood damage in Texas from Harvey may equal that of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, said an insurance research group. Katrina caused nearly $50 billion in insured losses in 2016 dollars, according to Wells Fargo Securities. (Reuters & WSJ)
* FEMA expects more than 450,000 Harvey disaster victims to file for assistance (CNBC)
* Houston's two airports to remain closed (WSJ)
President Donald Trump sought to showcase the government's response to Hurricane Harvey in a series of weekend tweets. Trump plans to visit the affected areas of Texas on Tuesday. Greg Abbott, the GOP governor of Texas, described the federal effort as "A-plus." (AP)
IN THE NEWS TODAY
Donald Trump's company was chasing a deal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow while he ran for president in late 2015 and early 2016, The Washington Post reported, citing people familiar with the proposal and records reviewed by Trump Organization lawyers.
* Trump reportedly demands China action: 'I want someone to bring me some tariffs' (Axios)
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, addressing Trump's blaming of "both sides" in the racially charged violence in Charlottesville, told Fox News on Sunday "the president speaks for himself." Meanwhile, Axio reports Trump is growing frustrated with Tillerson.
Trump drew criticism from top Republicans, including Arizona Sen. John McCain, for his pardon of Joseph Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, convicted last month for disobeying a 2011 federal court order to halt immigration raids. (WSJ)
Mark Zuckerberg said young immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents should be allowed to remain in the country. The comments put the Facebook (FB) co-founder in the middle of a contentious political battle that could soon be headed to court. (CNBC)
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee, the 49-year-old heir to one of the world's biggest corporate empires, has filed an appeal against the five-year jail term he was given for bribery and other charges through his lawyer. (Reuters)
CBS (CBS) announced plans to buy Australian customer Ten Network Holdings and launch a streaming service in that country. The U.S. media company beat out a bid from Australian media moguls Bruce Gordon and Lachlan Murdoch. (WSJ)
As part of a promotion for its upcoming series "Disjointed" about a woman who lives her dream of opening a marijuana dispensary, Netflix (NFLX) is developing strains of marijuana inspired by 10 of its shows, including "Grace and Frankie" and "Bojack Horseman." (Variety)
A Missouri law taking effect on Monday mandates municipalities follow the state minimum of $7.70 an hour, nullifying the higher $10 per hour floor St. Louis implemented in May. The law also bars a similar hike in Kansas City even though it was never enforced. (WSJ)
STOCKS TO WATCH
Gilead Sciences (GILD) HAS agreed to buy Kite Pharma (KITE) for $11.9 billion in an all-cash deal. Gilead's $180- per-share deal represents a 29 percent premium over Kite's close on Friday.
Littelfuse (LFUS) has offered to buy rival chip maker IXYS (IXYS) for about $750 million in cash and stock, worth about $23 per share. That's about a 44 percent premium over IXYS's close on Friday.
Western Digital's (WDC) CEO is reportedly in Tokyo to finalize a purchase of Toshiba's memory chip business, according to Reuters, which would end a monthslong dispute over sale of the unit.
Vulcan Materials (VMC) struck a deal to buy Canadian construction materials company Polaris Materials for about $202 million, subject to the approval of Polaris shareholders.
General Electric (GE) is implementing plans to cut costs and increase profitability in its industrial software business. GE is considering a possible stake sale in the unit, according to a Reuters report.
Infosys (INFY) co-founder Nandan Nilekani officially returned on Monday to the India-based IT services company as chairman. He said finding a new permanent CEO would be among his top priorities.
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) and Pfizer (PFE) announced data showing lower risk of stroke and lower rates of major bleeding in patients taking their blood thinning drug Eliquis compared with competing drugs.
WATERCOOLER
The "Game of Thrones" season seven finale aired on HBO Sunday night. No spoilers, but here's a look at how the fire-breathing dragons are made. It starts with studying the movement of real-life lizards and bats, according to the visual effects supervisor. (CNBC)
* The male "Game of Thrones" stars don't make more than the female leads (CNBC)
On the big screen, Hollywood experienced one of its most dismal weekend box-office results in 16 years. The entire slate of films grossed only about $65 million in North America and the top 12 films generated just $49.6 million. (USA Today)