Bloomberg Daybreak: US Edition

Hamas agreed to release the last of the hostages from its 2023 attack on Israel but said the rest of a US peace plan would be subject to negotiation, a stance that offered uncertain hopes for an end to the conflict in Gaza. President Donald Trump responded favorably to the Hamas statement even though the group failed to address other key elements of his 20-point proposal that Israel has also demanded, including that it disarm. He called on Israel to stop its bombing campaign and said discussions were underway on “details to be worked out,” suggesting that he was willing to give Hamas some leeway. “I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE,” Trump said of Hamas in a social media post. “Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly!” In a subsequent video post, Trump thanked the Muslim-majority nations he credited with assisting in the negotiations and pledged that “everybody will be treated fairly” in ongoing talks. “This is a big day,” Trump said. “We’ll see how it all turns out — we have to get the final word down in concrete.” For instant reaction and analysis, Bloomberg Balance of Power host Joe Mathieu speaks with: - Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York - Bloomberg News State Department and Foreign Policy Reporter Eric Martin - Former Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bloomberg Daybreak Weekend with Host Tom Busby take a look at some of the stories we'll be tracking in the coming week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) The Senate is expected to hold another vote today on a stopgap spending bill to reopen the government into mid-November. It comes as President Trump threatens to slash jobs. The US government shutdown adds uncertainty for investors seeking signals on the Federal Reserve's monetary-easing path. It will delay Friday's government payroll report, making investors reliant on private data for clues about the economic outlook. 2) Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent predicted a “pretty big breakthrough” in the next round of trade talks with China. China has stopped buying US soybeans, with Beijing using the import ban as a bargaining chip in trade talks with the US. The US and China are set to hold talks before the scheduled November 10 expiration of a truce on the highest tariff levels from earlier this year. 3) Boeing's 777X is slated to fly commercially for the first time in early 2027, a fresh setback to the US planemaker. The delay could result in potentially billions of dollars in accounting charges, with analysts estimating the non-cash accounting charge could run from $2.5 billion to as much as $4 billion. Boeing executives are set to discuss the extent and cost of the latest schedule slip for the jet when Boeing reports earnings on Oct. 29. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) White House Budget Director Russell Vought is planning to swiftly dismiss federal workers, a sign that Republicans will lean into hardball tactics to pressure Democrats to cave to end a government shutdown. Vought told House lawmakers Wednesday that some federal agencies will move to terminate workers within one to two days, according to people familiar with the remarks, who requested anonymity to discuss a private meeting. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that layoffs would happen within “two days, imminent, very soon” but declined to give any details about what agencies or positions would be targeted. Meantime, the Trump administration is planning to cancel billions of dollars earmarked for hydrogen projects in California and the Pacific Northwest, as well as $18 billion in infrastructure funding for the New York metro region. 2) Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said a lack of official data while the US government is shut down will make it harder for central bankers to interpret the economy. Goolsbee reiterated concerns about a recent pickup in services inflation, which he said could mean price pressures are persistent in parts of the economy least impacted by tariffs. 3) OpenAI has completed a deal to help employees sell shares in the company at a $500 billion valuation, propelling the ChatGPT owner past Elon Musk’s SpaceX to become the world’s largest startup. Current and former OpenAI employees sold about $6.6 billion of stock to investors including Thrive Capital, SoftBank Group Corp., Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabi’s MGX and T. Rowe Price, a person familiar with the transaction said. That boosted the US company’s price tag well past its previous $300 billion level during a SoftBank-led financing round earlier this year. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) Congress blew past a midnight funding deadline, triggering the US government’s first shutdown in nearly seven years — and the third under President Trump. The White House’s budget office ordered agencies to begin executing their plans for a funding lapse, shuttering the government aside from essential duties, disrupting the jobs of hundreds of thousands of Americans and upending many public services. 2) The Congressional Budget Office estimates that about 750,000 employees will be furloughed at a cost per day of $400 million in lost compensation. President Trump has also threatened to use the shutdown to fire federal workers, but agency plans for the lapse in funding didn’t specify any measures for terminations. With key economic reports on hold, traders fear the loss of visibility will leave markets in the dark on the outlook for monetary policy. The immediate reports at risk are Thursday’s weekly jobless claims and the October 3rd release of September’s nonfarm payrolls. 3) The White House pulled the nomination of EJ Antoni to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics, throwing the leadership of the critical data agency into further disarray after President Trump fired the former commissioner. A White House official said that the administration looked forward to nominating a new candidate soon. Antoni was slated to appear before a Senate committee for a confirmation hearing for the BLS commissioner role, which is the only political appointee in an agency of roughly 2,000 people. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) Vice President JD Vance said he believes the US government is on track to shut down, seeking to pin the blame on Democrats one day before federal funding is set to lapse. President Trump met with top Democratic and Republican congressional leaders less than 36 hours before an October 1st shutdown deadline. The two sides left no closer to resolving Democrats’ demands to extend health-care subsidies and reverse Medicaid funding cuts included in Trump’s signature tax legislation passed earlier this year. 2) Federal agencies are preparing for a possible government shutdown with detailed plans that call for temporary furloughs but not permanent mass firings — even after the White House pressed departments to consider reductions in force as part of their contingency planning. At least eight cabinet departments comprising more than two-thirds of the federal workforce had detailed their shutdown plans as of Monday afternoon. Together they call for more than 400,000 employees to be sent home as nonessential. 3) President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have agreed to a 20-point plan designed to end the war in Gaza, though the prospects for peace remain unclear without the direct involvement of Hamas. Trump said he had the support of other leaders from the Middle East and Muslim-majority nations. Still, the proposal — which mandates Hamas have no role in the future of Gaza — must be accepted by the militant group. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) The top four congressional leaders will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, a day before federal funding would expire if the two parties can’t agree on a short-term spending bill. The discussions will be the first between Trump and congressional leaders ahead of the deadline to avoid a shutdown. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and his House counterpart, Hakeem Jeffries, were expected to meet with the president last week but it was canceled by the White House at the last minute. 2) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to hold a crucial White House meeting with US President Donald Trump on Monday amid assertions from Washington that an ambitious plan to end the war in Gaza is nearly complete. The meeting — the fourth between the two allies since Trump took office in January — comes after the US leader shared a 21-point proposal aimed at concluding the Israel-Hamas conflict with other regional heads in New York last week. 3) New York City Mayor Eric Adams bowed out of his struggling reelection campaign Sunday, but the decision may be too late to fundamentally alter the outcome of the November election to replace him. Adams’ decision to withdraw, amid faltering poll numbers and a struggle to raise money, was a long-speculated outcome by donors and sought by others who hoped to boost former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s chances to defeat frontrunner Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist. But political analysts questioned Sunday whether the decision can make a difference with just 37 days until Election Day. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bloomberg Daybreak Weekend with Host Tom Busby take a look at some of the stories we'll be tracking in the coming week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) Former FBI Director James Comey has been charged with lying to Congress and obstruction related to testimony he gave in 2020, accelerating President Donald Trump’s push for legal action against his perceived political enemies. The filing of charges capped days of speculation over whether the Justice Department would bring the high-profile case against Comey, who has clashed with the president for years. 2) President Trump announces a fresh round of tariffs on pharmaceuticals, heavy trucks and furniture, including a 100% duty on patented drugs unless the producer is building a manufacturing plant in the US. The pharmaceuticals plan, as described by the president, may allow for wide exemptions for companies with presences within the United States. 3) The $14 billion price tag proposed for TikTok’s US business values it more like a stuffy old energy or food company than a leading global social media company. The rough estimate, cited by Vice President JD Vance on Thursday, is well below previous projections that scaled closer to $40 billion. Vance’s comments came as President Donald Trump pushed forward a plan for American investors to buy the US operation from Chinese internet firm ByteDance Ltd. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) The White House budget office is telling federal agencies to prepare plans for mass firings during a possible government shutdown. The move would represent a substantial escalation beyond normal shutdown protocols in recent years, under which government workers deemed nonessential in the case of a funding lapse were typically furloughed and eventually brought back when funding is restored — usually with back pay provided. 2) President Trump is scheduled to meet Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the White House, the latest sign of improving ties between the two nations. The meeting will be the first time Trump has hosted Sharif at the White House since the Pakistani leader took his country’s top office last year. It comes as relations between the US and Pakistan have been easing in recent months following years of tensions. 3) Jimmy Kimmel’s return to late-night TV on Tuesday drew 6.26 million viewers, Walt Disney Co.’s ABC network said in an emailed statement, the most ever in the show’s regular time slot. The total is significantly higher than the 1.55 million viewers Jimmy Kimmel Live! has averaged this year, according to Nielsen data. ABC suspended the program on Sept. 17 following comments the host made two nights earlier about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) Jimmy Kimmel returned to TV, saying "it was never my intention to make light of the death of a young man" and addressing controversy over his remarks about the shooting of Charlie Kirk. Kimmel called Kirk's killer "a sick person" and said the willingness of Kirk's widow Erika to forgive the assassin was an "example we should follow." Kimmel's show was reinstated after he personally negotiated his return with Disney CEO Bob Iger and Dana Walden, and he noted that the company "didn't have to" welcome him back on the air. 2) President Trump said NATO nations should shoot down Russian aircraft that violated their airspace. The president expressed a sympathetic tone on Ukraine's chances of winning the war, saying he believed Ukraine could reclaim all territory taken by Russia. President Trump criticized Russia, saying it was "fighting aimlessly" and made the country look like "a paper tiger," while the Kremlin pushed back, saying Russia "maintains its resilience and stability." 3) Fed Chair Jay Powell said the outlooks for the labor market and inflation face risks, calling it a "challenging situation." Powell stated that "near-term risks to inflation are tilted to the upside and risks to employment to the downside — a challenging situation" and that "two-sided risks mean that there is no risk-free path." See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) Jimmy Kimmel Live! will return to the air on Tuesday, ending a suspension Walt Disney Co. imposed following controversial remarks the ABC late-night host made about the assassination of Republican activist Charlie Kirk. Kimmel will address the controversy when he returns to the stage, according to people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified. 2) President Trump's call for pregnant women to avoid Tylenol is drawing sharp criticism from researchers who say the advice ignores decades of evidence and could endanger mothers and babies. Researchers say the White House's message misrepresents the science around acetaminophen, with a physician-scientist calling it "astonishing misinformation." 3) President Trump is preparing to address the UN General Assembly gathering in New York today for the first time in his second term. Earlier this month, the White House announced it would use this year’s General Assembly gathering to push other countries to adopt more restrictions on asylum. Another topic Trump is sure to broach will be Israel’s war in Gaza, as several nations are planning to recognize a Palestinian state on the first day of the conference, and he is sure to defend his close ally. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) On Sunday evening, Erika Kirk, the widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, spoke at memorial service for her late husband, attended by the president and many prominent conservatives. She said she forgave the man who gunned down her husband, saying “I forgive him because it was what Christ did and it’s what Charlie would do.” President Trump proclaimed Charlie Kirk a “martyr for American freedom” in a memorial ceremony. 2) President Trump signed a proclamation to overhaul the H-1B visa program, requiring a $100,000 fee for applications to curb overuse. The proclamation restricts entry under the H-1B program unless accompanied by the payment, and asserts that abuse of the H-1B pathway has displaced US workers. 3) President Trump suggested that Lachlan Murdoch and his father Rupert Murdoch are involved in the US takeover of TikTok. Under the deal, Americans would hold six of the seven board seats for TikTok, the app’s algorithm would be controlled in the US and Oracle would act as TikTok’s security provider. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Trump's efforts to redefine federal relations with higher education have major implications for how the US funds research. From his 50-year tenure as President of Bard, Leon Botstein brings a broader perspective to what he believes is at stake for the country. He speaks with David Westin on this special bonus edition of the Bloomberg Wall Street Week podcast. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bloomberg Daybreak Weekend with Host Tom Busby take a look at some of the stories we'll be tracking in the coming week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) The president threatens TV networks that criticize him after Jimmy Kimmel's suspension. President Trump has said US broadcast networks should face scrutiny over their licenses if they're too critical of him, and media executives and academics say companies are "bending to the will" of Trump's administration, making media companies look like state-run outlets. 2) The call between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping may determine the fate of TikTok and potentially ease trade tensions between the two countries. Trump and Xi are due to discuss a framework agreement to shift control of TikTok's US operations from its Chinese parent ByteDance to a consortium of American investors. 3) President Trump has asked the US Supreme Court to let him fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook while she fights his attempt to oust her. The Justice Department asked the court to at least temporarily pause a Washington federal judge’s ruling that has allowed Cook to remain in her position for now. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) Walt Disney Co.’s ABC network is taking Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air indefinitely amid a backlash to remarks the late-night host made about the killing of Republican activist Charlie Kirk. 2) President Donald Trump dined on organic Norfolk chicken at a white-tie banquet Wednesday night hosted by the British royal family. His state visit to the UK now turns to tougher diplomatic talks on trade and foreign policy with Prime Minister Keir Starmer. 3) Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell rallied a deeply divided committee of policymakers behind an interest rate-cut, tuning out heavy political pressure to find middle ground among officials variously worried by a faltering labor market and lingering inflation concerns. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bloomberg's Tom Keene, Jonathan Ferro and Lisa Abramowicz discuss remarks from Fed Chair Jay Powell following the Federal Reserve's latest policy decision on a special edition of Bloomberg Surveillance. Federal Reserve officials lowered their benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point and penciled in two more reductions this year following months of intense pressure from the White House to slash borrowing costs. Chair Jerome Powell pointed to growing signs of weakness in the labor market to explain why officials decided it was time to cut rates after holding them steady since December amid concerns over tariff-driven inflation. “Labor demand has softened, and the recent pace of job creation appears to be running below the break-even rate needed to hold the unemployment rate constant,” Powell told reporters in his post-meeting press conference. He added, “I can no longer say” the labor market is “very solid.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bloomberg's Tom Keene, Jonathan Ferro and Lisa Abramowicz break down the Federal Reserve's latest policy decision on a special edition of Bloomberg Surveillance See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today's podcast: 1) The UK has shelved its talks with the US aimed at eliminating tariffs on British steel, in a recognition that giving Donald Trump the honor of a rare second state visit wouldn’t be enough to shake the American president off a key trade stance. 2) Federal Reserve officials are expected to backstop a faltering US labor market by lowering interest rates Wednesday, marking a shift after worries about tariff-induced inflation kept them on hold all year. 3) TikTok’s US operations would be acquired by a consortium that includes Oracle Corp., Andreessen Horowitz and private equity firm Silver Lake Management LLC under a deal President Donald Trump is set to discuss with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.