Inside the Fortune CEO Initiative dinner: Debt worries, diplomacy, and a chance to have a ‘good debate’

In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady shares insights from the Fortune CEO Initiative dinner

The big leadership story: The corporate “war room” becomes more than a metaphor

The markets: A small rebound

Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.

Good morning. Three speakers took turns addressing the room at the Fortune CEO Initiative dinner in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards on Wednesday night. One was Trump’s UN Ambassador, sharing insights on the Administration’s strategy for Iran and the rest of the world. One was a Kennedy scion with a strong message for business about the next generation and leadership in the digital age. And one was a longtime diplomat and State Department official, sounding the alarm about a nation declining in ways we don’t often talk about. Together, their words were a clarion call to business leaders to look at how these trends create a need to step up and speak up.

Ambassador Mike Waltz spoke off the record to share frank insights about his prognosis for everything from Iran to the future of the UN. His perspective was in stark contrast with Richard Haass, a veteran diplomat, scholar and senior counselor with Centerview Partners who’s been a longtime critic of Trump’s policies. He pointed to two crises, in particular, that are “eroding confidence in American competence and leadership.” The first is a disdain for expertise, whether it’s scientific expertise or the policy expertise that’s guided previous presidents in making decisions such as whether to go to war. The........

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