Middle East Truce Back on Track; Bessent on Path for Confirmation
16:54 Share

Success. It's discipline. It's teamwork. It's the drive and passion inside of us that comes before all recognition. It's the best in each of us made better by the best in all of us. Whatever success looks like to you, Stiefel is invested in yours. That's why Stiefel is one of the fastest growing global wealth management firms in the country. So when you're ready to chase success, our financial advisors are ready for you at

At Stiefel, we invest everything into our advisors so they can invest everything into their clients. That means direct access to one of the industry's largest equity research franchises and a leading middle market investment bank. And it's why Stiefel has won the J.D. Power Award for Employee Advisor Satisfaction two years in a row.

If you're an advisor or an investor, choose Stiefel, where success meets success. Stiefel Nicholas & Company, Inc., member SIPC and NYSE. For J.D. Power 2024 award information, visit jdpower.com slash awards. Compensation provided for using, not obtaining the award.

Open Source AI is available to all, not just the few. Meta's Open Source is free to use, enabling startups like RightSea to innovate. Here's CEO and co-founder Brandon Mitchell. We use Lama, Meta's free Open Source AI model, to build Job Search Genius, an AI tool that helps candidates write their resume, practice mock interviews, and learn salary negotiation tactics. Learn how others are building with Meta's free Open Source AI at ai.meta.com slash open.

Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news. Good morning, I'm Nathan Hager. And I'm Karen Moscow. Here are the stories we're following today. Karen, we begin with the latest developments in the Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says an agreement with Hamas to pause the war in Gaza has been finalized. That suggests the truce will begin on Sunday. We get the latest from Bloomberg's Oliver Crook in Tel Aviv.

On Sunday, you will begin the ceasefire. That means that all the sort of fighting will be paused in Gaza for six weeks. We understand that that will also mean the release of three female hostages to begin on Sunday. There's a total of 33 that would be released over this sort of six-week phase. Then you get three or four hostages every sort of four or five days over the next few weeks. As that happens,

prisoners will be returned from the Israeli side to the Palestinian side. We understand those will be by the hundreds, certainly over a thousand. And critically, the troops will be progressively pulled out of the populated areas of Gaza and basically will be evacuated to the eastern flank of the Strip. And it will also allow for humanitarian aid to sort of come in at a much larger pace than it has. Bloomberg's Ali Cook in Tel Aviv reports Netanyahu's ordered his security cabinet to meet to approve the truce. That meeting is now underway. Well,

Well, Nathan, the Supreme Court has signaled it's ready to rule as soon as today on the law that would ban TikTok in the U.S. unless it finds a new owner. But even if the high court upholds the ban, TikTok could win a reprieve. We get more on that with Bloomberg's Gina Cervetti.

The law calls for TikTok to shut down this Sunday unless its Chinese owner ByteDance lines up a buyer for its U.S. operations. But this Sunday falls before a federal holiday and President-elect Trump's inauguration. So Biden administration officials say that essentially punts the issue to the next administration. The law also allows for a 90-day extension if a serious purchase negotiation is underway.

Trump's incoming national security advisor says they'll find a way to keep the deadline going. Democrats in the Senate have also introduced a bill that would give TikTok another 270 days to reach a deal. Gina Cervetti, Bloomberg Radio. Gina, thank you. As you mentioned, we are just three days away from Donald Trump being sworn in for his second term. Chinese President Xi Jinping will skip the inauguration on Monday, but he's sending Vice President Han Jiang instead. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Wang is also expected.

to miss. The inaugural sources say he's visiting East Asia this week, but there will be plenty of high-profile U.S. technology leaders there. They include Apple CEO Tim Cook, Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos, as well as Elon Musk.

Well, Nathan, one of Trump's key cabinet picks is on track to be confirmed after a confirmation hearing that lasted for hours. Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Besson warned lawmakers that they must extend the 2017 tax cuts or risk an economic crisis. Bloomberg's Amy Morris has more from Washington. Besson called extending the 2017 tax cuts the single most important economic issue of the day. If we do not renew and extend...

We will be facing an economic calamity that falls on the middle and working class people. Besson told lawmakers that if Donald Trump wanted to get rid of the debt limit, he would, quote, work with him and you on that. The United States is not going to default on its debt.

if I'm confirmed. And Besson told lawmakers he would support Russian oil sanctions. I will be 100% on board for taking sanctions up, especially on the Russian oil majors, to levels that would bring the Russian Federation to the table. And he said he respected the Federal Reserve's independence over monetary policy.

In Washington, Amy Morris, Bloomberg Radio. Amy, thank you. And President-elect Trump may also be close to picking a new head of the Secret Service. CNN is reporting he's expected to name his current Secret Service detail leader, Sean Curran, to be the new director.

Well, Nathan, we're learning more about the government cyber attack that the Treasury Department has blamed on Chinese state-sponsored hackers. Sources tell Bloomberg the breach went as high within the agency as it could get. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's computer was said to be breached, along with those of her two top lieutenants, Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo and acting Undersecretary Brad Smith.

Our sources say fewer than 50 of Yellen's files were accessed and nothing classified was taken, but the hackers appeared to focus on Treasury's role in sanctions, intelligence, and international affairs. I want to turn now, Karen, to the latest on the wildfires in Los Angeles. And right now, it looks like firefighters are making progress. Let's get the update now from Bloomberg's John Tucker. John. And Nathan, the gusting winds that have rattled the region for more than a week have now subsided.

giving the firefighters a much-needed boost as they mop up hop spots. 40,000 acres have burned in two ferocious fires. Electricity, gas, and sewage lines, they're wrecked. And there's toxic waste everywhere. There's also a growing threat of hazardous mudslides. And if that's not enough, the California Attorney General, Rob Bonta, tells residents to beware of scammers. Folks across the region are being preyed upon.

by greedy businesses and landlords, scam artists and predatory buyers looking to make a quick buck off their pain. They are seeking to re-victimize the victims of the fires. The two largest fires, the Palisades and Eaton fires, they continue to burn, but fire crews are again making progress.

The death toll has risen to 27, and the search for the missing continues. I'm John Tucker, Bloomberg Radio. All right, John, thank you. Well, a concert to raise money for the Los Angeles wildfire victims will be held on January 30th. It'll be broadcast on multiple streaming services, including Netflix, Amazon, and Apple, as well as in select AMC theaters and on radio and music streaming sites. Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers are among those expected to perform. Let's turn now to space.

SpaceX launched its Starship rocket on its latest test flight, but the spacecraft was destroyed following a thrilling booster catch back at the pad. Elon Musk's company says Starship broke apart in what it called a rapid unscheduled assembly.

The spacecraft's six engines appeared to shut down one by one during ascent, with contact lost just eight and a half minutes into the flight. The spacecraft is a new and upgraded model, making its debut. It was packed with 10 dummy satellites for practice at releasing them. A minute before the loss, SpaceX used the launch tower's giant mechanical arms to catch the returning booster. That's a feat that's only been achieved once before.

Well, Nathan, we turn to the markets and futures are higher as we close out the trading week. Bank of America says Donald Trump's return to the White House will likely protect stocks from a big sell-off. The firm's strategists say investors will focus on Trump's protectionist agenda and proposals for lower corporate taxes. And Karen Bloomberg News has learned Rio Tinto and Glencore have conducted early stage talks around a merger. A combination of these two would create a company larger than industry leader BHP Group. We get more from Bloomberg's Paul Allen.

This would be a behemoth. This is the big one. Rio Tinto's got a market cap of about $103 billion. Glencore's worth about $55 billion. If you put those two together, yeah, you'd get an entity that surpasses the world's biggest miner, BHP. So this would be a huge, huge deal, the biggest ever in the mining space, if it goes ahead. Bloomberg's Paul Allen says the discussions took place as recently as late last year but are not currently active.

And it's time now for a look at some of the other stories making news in New York and around the world. And for that, we're joined by Bloomberg's Michael Barr. Michael, good morning. Good morning, Karen. New York Mayor Eric Adams, who is under a federal indictment, will meet with Donald Trump at the president-elect's Mar-a-Lago estate today. According to Adams' aides, the two men would discuss New Yorkers' priorities. Trump has voiced his support for Adams in the past, even saying he would take a look at a possible pardon for him if needed.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani will keep his apartments and World Series rings. A federal judge in New York was set to decide whether Giuliani would have to hand them over to two election workers who sued him for defamation. Ruby Freeman and Shea Moss won a $148 million judgment against him.

In Thursday's surprise settlement, Giuliani agreed to provide the plaintiffs with unspecified compensation and promised not to defame them again. Outside the court, Giuliani's attorney, Joseph Camerata, stressed that the settlement does not include an admission of guilt.

After long negotiations over the last 72 hours, going well into the hours of the night, all parties reached a resolution in this case that is satisfactory to all parties. Giuliani has already turned over many belongings and the terms were not disclosed. His son, Andrew Giuliani.

Look, I just want to say as a son, as an American, I'm so proud of my father to see what he's been put through over the last four years. Giuliani never showed up to court and for several hours it was a mystery as to why until his attorney announced the settlement.

Governor Kathy Hochul announced increased overnight security on New York City subway trains. We are deploying an additional 750 NYPD, and I want to bolster the police presence overnight. Governor Hochul says it's part of a $77 million strategy that will also see 300 more officers on overnight trains.

President Joe Biden will commute the sentences of nearly 2,500 nonviolent drug offenders whose sentences were longer than they receive under current standards. The White House said in a statement this morning that the list includes people who received longer sentences for offenses related to crack cocaine as compared to powder cocaine. Global News 24 hours a day and whenever you want it with Bloomberg News Now. I'm Michael Barr and this is Bloomberg, Karen. I'm Michael Barr. Thank you. Success. It's discipline.

We'll be right back.

That means direct access to one of the industry's largest equity research franchises and a leading middle market investment bank. And it's why Stiefel has won the J.D. Power Award for Employee Advisor Satisfaction two years in a row. If you're an advisor or an investor, choose Stiefel, where success meets success. Stiefel Nicholas & Company, Inc., member SIPC and NYSE. For J.D. Power 2024 award information, visit jdpower.com slash awards. Compensation provided for using, not obtaining the award.

This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp has been revolutionary in connecting people to mental health services. Using BetterHelp can be as easy as opening your laptop or your phone and clicking a button, and the session begins.

Clients are able to choose in what way they would like to communicate with me, whether video or on the phone or chat texting. BetterHelp is there when you need it, and that's what makes all the difference. Visit betterhelp.com slash podbusiness to get 10% off your first month. Therapists were compensated.

Time now for the Bloomberg Sports Update brought to you by Tri-State Audi. Here's John Stashower. John, good morning. Good morning, Karen. The Ranger road trip ended at Utah. Rangers trailed going to the third period, had not won a game all season, went down after two, but they scored three in the third and won five to three. They're 4-0-2 in their last six games. The Devils, since winning 6-7, have lost.

Seven of nine got a point, but after leading three different times, they fell at Toronto 4-3 in overtime at UBS. Islanders beaten by Philadelphia 5-3. The Capitals won 1-0 at Ottawa on an Alex Ovechkin goal in overtime. Big NBA game at Oklahoma City. The Thunder.

Loss to the Cavs in Cleveland last week, but they won this one 134-114. OKC led by 38 going into the fourth quarter. Shea Gilgis-Alexander is the favorite right now to be NBA MVP. He scored 40 points. Both teams have the same record, 34-6. Knicks tonight, also Minnesota. The Nets still in L.A. where they just lost to the Clippers by 59. Tonight they face the Lakers.

Australian Open third round wins for Carlos Alcaraz, Coco Gauff, women's top seed Irina Sabalenka, and Novak Djokovic is playing now, and he has a two-set lead. The Mets with a re-signing of a free agent. It's not Pete Alonso, not yet anyway. It's Jesse Winker, who they acquired at the trade deadline. He helped them in their postseason run, signed for one year, $9 million.

Bob Euchre passed away, the voice of his hometown Milwaukee Brewers, for 54 years. Euchre had an unspectacular playing career in the 1960s, a lifetime batting average of 200. He joked about it in over 100 appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, which led to Miller Lite commercials, the movie Major League, and the sitcom Mr. Belvedere. He was inducted into the broadcaster's wing of the Hall of Fame in 2003. It's been a great run.

But number one has always been baseball for me. No matter what else I ever did, baseball was the only way I wanted to go. Bob Uecker, Mr. Baseball. Listen to John Stascheller, Bloomberg Sports, Karen Neath.

Coast to coast on Bloomberg Radio. Nationwide on Sirius XM. And around the world on Bloomberg.com and the Bloomberg Business App. This is Bloomberg Daybreak. Good morning, I'm Nathan Hager. A ceasefire deal in Gaza may be back on track. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says an agreement has been finalized to pause the fighting with Qatari.

Hamas for six weeks, and his cabinet is meeting now to vote on it. Joining us from Tel Aviv for the latest, Bloomberg News Israel Bureau Chief Ethan Bronner. Ethan, thanks for being back here with us this morning. So how do we expect this vote to go down?

Well, just to be clear, this is the security cabinet. That's the inner group of 11 ministers out of 30-something. It will pass. They're in the process of looking at it now. There will be two votes against it for sure. These are the two far-right members.

ministers, Smutrich and Ben-Gvir, but I think they're the only ones who are going to vote against it in this cabinet meeting today. Then there will be a subsequent one later today or on Saturday night of the entire cabinet. Also, no reason to expect any problem. And then the expectation now is that the process, the very painful and long process of these six weeks will begin on Sunday. What is the objection from the far right ministers?

But far right is very upset that

The government has, from their perspective, given up on goals that they had said were not to be compromised. That is to destroy Hamas totally and not to let those who are in Israeli prisons, Hamas members who have killed Israelis, out back into circulation. There are hundreds of them will go out and they will...

The right says, and that's not a crazy thought, go back into action and try again to carry out violent acts against Israelis. So for them, this is a crazy thing and not worth the return of the hostages. In terms of how the ceasefire is expected to go, what are we expecting? How is it to be enforced?

Well, I mean, I don't know if there's really an important—there's no sort of international enforcement measure, but in theory, on Sunday when it begins, three hostages—and they may be dead or they may be living, we don't know—will be returned to Israel, we don't know at what time, in exchange for some large number of Palestinian prisoners who will be freed. It's 30 for a normal

quote unquote, Israeli, 50 for a female. So therefore, I can't give you the exact number. That will happen. And then the Israeli troops will start to move out of Rafah in Gaza City and the northern Gaza area to the outskirts of the Strip. And at the same time, through, I think, several crossings, we'll see hundreds of trucks of food and fuel and medicine and reconstruction materials begin to go in.

And there is a big question of what comes after. You mentioned the objections from the far right ministers. But once the ceasefire is over, there's still going to be dozens of hostages remaining. So what does come next? Potentially, you think 30 seconds.

Okay. So look, on the 16th day of this deal, they begin to negotiate the second phase. And in theory, it's about ending the war. And that's something that the far right is opposed to. And some on the not so far right are opposed to as well. So the likelihood of it breaking down after six weeks is high.

This is Bloomberg Daybreak, your morning podcast on the stories making news from Wall Street to Washington and beyond. Look for us on your podcast feed by 6 a.m. Eastern each morning on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere else you listen. You can also listen live each morning starting at 5 a.m. Wall Street time on Bloomberg 1130 in New York, Bloomberg 99.1 in Washington, Bloomberg 92.9 in Boston, and nationwide on Sirius XM Channel 121.

Plus, listen coast to coast on the Bloomberg Business app now with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto interfaces. And don't forget to subscribe to Bloomberg News Now. It's the latest news whenever you want it, in five minutes or less. Search Bloomberg News Now on your favorite podcast platform to stay informed all day long. I'm Karen Moscow. And I'm Nathan Hager. Join us again tomorrow morning for all the news you need to start your day right here on Bloomberg Daybreak.

I think...

Yeah.

There's always a benefit in talking to someone because we can all benefit from improved insight about ourselves and who we are and how we behave with other people. So if you're human, that's like a good indicator that you could benefit from talking to somebody. Find out if therapy is right for you. Visit BetterHelp.com today.

That's betterhelp.com. When you're making financial decisions for a company, growth is great until manual work slows you down. Enter Intuit Enterprise Suite. This next-level solution integrates and streamlines all business management tools, improving effectiveness while cutting costs and overhead so your business keeps growing. Learn more at intuit.com slash enterprise.