[music]

Bloomberg Audio Studios podcasts radio

news.

[music]

>> Good morning. I'm Nathan Hager and I'm

Alexis Christopher. Alexis will have the

latest developments [music] in the Iran

War in a moment, but we begin with a

major developing story on Capitol Hill.

After six weeks of both sides digging

in, the Senate has passed a bill to end

the Department of Homeland Security

shutdown. Majority Leader John Thun made

the announcement just after 2 in the

morning Wall Street time.

>> Just a few minutes ago, Republicans

funded the Department of Homeland

Security peace meal. It's not the way to

fund the Department.

>> Majority Leader John Thun spoke on the

Senate floor and we get more from

Bloomberg Deputy Washington Bureau Chief

Laura Davidson.

>> This bill would essentially extend uh

government funding for most of the

Department of Homeland Security with the

exception of ICE and Border Patrol.

those sort of being the two most

controversial pieces uh that uh will uh

will continue to to be negotiated um in

Congress. Um I'll note this is just one

step in a process. This bill needs to go

to the House next and then uh Donald

Trump's uh desk for signature. So this

is uh you know still something that is

tenuous um and could take several more

days if not a couple weeks.

>> Bloomberg's Laura Davidson reports

President Trump had said he would sign

an executive order to pay TSA workers

before the Senate vote. Democrats are

now poised to walk away from the

shutdown debate with the immigration

reforms they wanted left behind while

Republicans face a high stakes fight to

fund their immigration agenda through a

partisan budget bill.

>> And now to the latest on the Iran war.

President Trump is once again pushing

back his deadline for Thran to reach a

deal with the US. In a social media

post, the president said he'll hold off

on attacking Iran's energy

infrastructure for 10 days. At a White

House cabinet meeting heard live here on

Bloomberg radio, the president said

talks are going very well and the US war

effort is extremely ahead of schedule.

>> They are begging to make a deal, not me.

They're begging to make a deal and

anybody that saw what was happening over

there would understand why they want to

make a deal.

>> President Trump there at the White

House. Bloomberg Middle East

correspondent Jamanna Bureti reports

it's still unclear who the US is talking

with. A lot of this is rhetoric, but

what we do know is that there are no

physical meetings that have been decided

on yet and and Pakistan have been put

forward as a key mediator in that

regard, but nothing has been confirmed.

Uh and yet the language that continues

to come out of Iran is one of defiance.

They seem to not be in the mood of

compromising uh and continue to strike

back.

>> And Bloomberg's Jumani Burete reports

the extended deadline also gives the US

more time to build up forces. The Wall

Street Journal is reporting the Pentagon

is considering sending up to 10,000

additional troops to the Middle East.

>> Alexis UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer

says he won't be bullied by President

Trump and won't change his mind due to

pressure from the president. Starmer

spoke with Sky News.

>> I have been clear I'm not going to join

the war. There's a clear difference

therefore of opinion between me and

President Trump. My own view is that a

lot of what is said and done has been uh

to put pressure on me to change my mind.

But I'm not going to do so because I'm

the British prime minister and I have to

act in the British national interest.

>> British Prime Minister Kier Starmer has

been repeatedly insulted by President

Trump. He says Starmer has made a big

mistake. And Ukrainian President

Vladimir Zalinski is seeking to offer

his nation's anti- drone expertise in

exchange for defense support during a

surprise visit to the Gulf region. The

offer comes on news Ukraine risks

running out of money to pay for its

defense against Russia within two

months. According to estimates shared by

both domestic and foreign officials,

Keev currently has only enough funds to

cover spending until June. Nathan,

>> well, this morning, Alexis, Secretary of

State Marco Rubio is in France meeting

his group of seven foreign minister

counterparts. This comes just hours

after President Trump complained

bitterly about NATO countries not

stepping up to help the US and Israel in

the Iran war. Rubio may have a hard time

trying to sell the other diplomats on

the US strategy. Almost all nations have

raised objections to it. [snorts] $200

oil. McCory group says that's the price

it may hit if the Iran war drags on

until June. The conflict has seen Thran

oversee a near complete closure of the

Straight of Hormuz. Brent crude is on

pace for a record monthly gain in March.

Checking right now it's about $110 the

barrel and futures are mostly unchanged

as we close out the trading week. Right

now S&P futures down just fractionally

or about 8 points lower. Yesterday

stocks suffered their worst loss since

January. The S&P 500 fell 1 and 3/4%.

The tech heavy NASDAQ 100 slid 2.4%.

>> Well, you may be seeing tensions

escalate between the US and China this

morning. Alexis, China's Ministry of

Commerce says it's begun two trade

investigations against the US. They

involve supply chains and renewable

products, its retaliation to US trade

probes ahead of an expected presidential

summit in Beijing in May. And three Fed

officials are expressing growing concern

over the economic outlook due to the

Middle East war. Fed Governor Lisa Cook

says the spike in oil prices means

inflation is now a bigger concern than

the labor market. I see the balance of

risk as being largely unnet

uh in balance, but I would argue that

the inflation risk is greater right now

as a as a result of the Iran war. Fed

Governor Lisa Cook made those comments

yesterday in a speech in Connecticut.

Two of her colleagues, Fed Governor

Michael Barr and Fed Vice Chair Philip

Jefferson, say they preferred to keep

rates on hold while they assess the

length of the conflict and its impact on

energy prices.

>> A big news in the tech space this

morning, Alexis. Anthropics won a court

order blocking a Trump administration

ban on government use of its artificial

intelligence technology. Federal judge

put that order on hold for 7 days so the

government has a chance to appeal. The

judge though questioned the rationale

for the ban, saying it did not appear to

be directed at national security

interests and instead seemed designed to

punish Anthropic. The Claude chatbot

maker argues the ban could cost it

billions of dollars in lost revenue. And

in another development, Nathan Bloomberg

News has learned Anthropic is

considering going public as soon as

October. The move comes as the

artificial intelligence company races

with rival Open AI to hold an IPO.

According to the information, a listing

could raise more than $60 billion.

>> And get this, Alexis, we may be closing

in on a deal in the booze industry.

Pernau Ricard and Brown Foreman, the

owner of Jack Daniels Whiskey, are

discussing a merger as the alcoholic

drink companies look at ways to

consolidate amid an industry downturn.

The combination would bring together

Perau's top sellers like Martell Cognac,

Jameson Irish whiskey, and absolute

vodka with brown Foreman's whisies and

other brands, including Herodura

Tequila.

[music]

>> Time now for a look at some of the other

stories making news in New York and

around the world. For that, we're joined

by Bloomberg's John Tucker. John, good

morning.

>> And good morning, Alexis. The Department

of Justice investigating medical school

admissions policies at Stanford, Ohio

State, and the University of California

at San Diego over possible racial

discrimination. This is part of a

campaign by the Trump administration to

reshape higher education. The college is

facing requests from the AY's Civil

Rights Division for data, including

medical school applicant test scores,

ties to donors, and internal university

communications. Donald Trump's signature

will appear on future US paper currency

to mark the 250th anniversary of the

country. More in this report from

Bloomberg's Matt Piper.

>> It's a first for a sitting president.

Treasury Secretary Scott Besson says

there is no more powerful way to

recognize the historic achievements of

our great country and President Donald

J. Trump than US dollar bills bearing

his name. Until now, the US currency has

borne the signatures of the secretary

and the treasur. The move comes as Trump

has put his stamp on America's

semi-quincentennial this year, like

planning a UFC fight at the White House.

Matt Piper, Bloomberg Radio. Another

close call on the latest in a string of

incidents involving helicopters and

commercial passenger jets. A Blackhawk

helicopter crossed in front of a United

Airlines plane landing at John Wayne

Airport in Southern California. The FAA

telling Bloomberg it's investigating the

event, which happened Tuesday night. And

the runway where a plane collided with a

fire truck at LaGuardia Airport, killing

the two pilots and injuring several

others, has now reopened. The Port

Authority of New York and New Jersey

says the tarmac resumed operations under

the runway and a related infrastructure

were repaired. Global news 24 hours a

day whenever you want it with Bloomberg

News Now. I'm John Tucker and this is

Bloomberg Alexis.

>> Thanks, [music] John. Time now for our

Bloomberg sports update. And for that,

we bring in John Stashour. The NCAA

tournament is back and Iowa is still

alive. The ninth seed in the South had

the upset of top- seated Florida and

then beat Nebraska 77 to71. And then

Illinois with an upset win over Houston.

In the West region in San Jose, Purdue

scored with less than a second to go for

a two-point win over Texas. Arizona won

easily over Arkansas. LSU hiring Will

Wade as its new coach. He was their

former coach and they fired him after

improper benefits that are now legal.

That's your Bloomberg sports update.

>> Stay with us. More from Bloomberg

Daybreak coming up after this.

[music]

>> Coast to coast on Bloomberg radio,

nationwide on SiriusXM, and around the

world on Bloomberg.com, and the

Bloomberg Business app. This is

Bloomberg Daybreak. [music]

>> Good morning. I'm Nathan Hager. On day

28 of the war with Iran, President

Donald Trump [music] says he's giving

Thrron 10 more days to reach a deal.

President announced the extension on

social media after telling a cabinet

meeting talks with Tyrron are going very

well.

>> They now have a chance to make a deal,

but that's up to them. And they'll tell

you we're not negotiating. We will not

negotiate. Of course they negotiated.

They've been obliterated.

>> President Trump at a White House cabinet

meeting heard live on Bloomberg radio

this morning. We're joined from Dubai by

Bloomberg Middle East correspondent

Jamanna Burete, anchor of Bloomberg

Horizons. And President Trump may be

begging the question there, Jumanna. Is

Iran negotiating? Good morning.

>> Good morning. Well, the rhetoric and I

say I emphasize the word rhetoric. The

rhetoric coming through from Iran now

suggests that they are not negotiating.

And in fact, the Iranian foreign

minister, Mr. Abbasi gave an interview

to Iranian state TV

nonetheless saying that they are not

negotiating with the US either directly

or indirectly but that messages had been

passed to them from Pakistan and this is

something that lines up with our own

reporting and so at this point it is

unclear what is going on behind the

scenes the rhetoric as I say continues

to remain one of defiance they are are

showcasing that they're not in the mood

to compromise still uh and uh it is day

27 of this war. The attacks and

counterattacks are ongoing overnight. Um

more military strikes conducted uh joint

military operations between US and

Israel over key sites in Thran, Isvahan,

industrial city of course and in

retaliation more uh projectiles being

launched towards key Gulf states. So

really no signs that things are letting

up as we get into the weekend.

>> Okay. So obviously though now the uh

president's deadline for going after

Iran's energy infrastructure that was

due to expire tonight is extended

another 10 days. What could that mean

over the next week and a half?

So the short-term reaction is one of

relief I would guess for the region

because it just pushes back the prospect

of a potential strike on Iranian key

infrastructure and the potential

reprisal on GCC civilian infrastructure

in return by another 10 days. But at the

same time, I think because there's a lot

of skepticism about the real chance for

a diplomatic breakthrough over the

coming days, there is a feeling that

perhaps this is just a time buying

exercise coming through from the US

administration. At the same time, we

hear of these reports of more military

troops and marines being sent to the

region should be mobilized in the coming

days. And that sort of implies that

perhaps a ground combat operation may in

may be in the works as well. And that

raises a question as well about what a

ground operation could lead to and

whether the four to six week timeline

that President Trump has said he is uh

extremely ahead on uh can continue.

>> Yeah, absolutely. Uh so if you look at

if you just look at the the logistics of

it from what we understand the first

Marine Expeditionary Unit should be

arriving in the coming days. So that is

literally a matter of hours from now.

Should arrive to the region. There's

another unit that is also set set sail

um a week ago and that is expected to

arrive midappril. So it's still going to

take some time for the extra

reinforcements to arrive. We were also

earlier in the week reporting that the

Pentagon perhaps had instructed their

82nd Airborne Division as well. And this

is typically a division you would only

use if you need an expeditious

uh arrival of troops. They can be

mobilized very very quickly. But we were

speaking to a former veteran uh one of

them earlier on today and he said that

the uh goal for deploying this 82nd

Airborne Division wouldn't necessarily

be to take over a full territory or even

you know go in on the ground in in Iran.

It would be actually targeted at smaller

lands, perhaps even some of those

smaller islands that are close to the

straight of Hormuz. This is all

speculation at this point, I should say,

but the point is that if these troops

are going to be mobilized, there's a

high chance that the objective would be

to somehow uh work towards reopening the

straits and [music]

um removing the threat that face tankers

should they want to pass through the

straight.

>> [music]

>> 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 6:00

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>> You can also listen live each morning

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Now. It's the latest news whenever you

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Search Bloomberg News Now on your

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Christopherus.

>> And I'm Nathan Hager. Join [music] us

again tomorrow morning for all the news

you need to start your day right here on

Bloomberg Day.