Police Hunt for Killer of Conservative Activist Charlie Kirk

0:00Whatever your goal, trade show giveaways, client gifts, or team gear, 4imprint has the promo products to match. With thousands of options, from apparel and drinkware to tech and totes, it's easy to find the right fit for your brand and budget, with standout choices at every price point. And with their 360-degree guarantee, you can be 4imprint certain your order will show up just right, right on time. Explore more at 4imprint.com. 4imprint. 4certain. So there's a lot of noise about AI, but time's too tight for more promises. So let's talk about results. At IBM, we work with our employees to integrate technology right into the systems they need.

0:37Now, a global workforce of 300 ,000 can use AI to fill their HR questions, resolving 94 % of common questions. Not noise. Proof of how we can help companies get smarter by putting AI where it actually pays off, deep in the work that moves the business. Let's create smarter business. IBM. Healthcare doesn't always work great. If you've ever waited on a refill or couldn't schedule an appointment, you get it. That's the kind of stuff Optum is changing. They're using data and technology to integrate patient care, pharmacy, and everything else. So healthcare is connected, not complicated. What's that look like?

1:15Cheaper prescriptions that are easier to get and care that looks at the whole person, how you need it. Optum is helping make healthcare work as one for everyone. Learn more at business.optum.com. As industries evolve faster than ever, companies need an environment that accelerates strategic growth, and Michigan delivers on that promise. From emerging startups to global enterprises, Michigan offers what executives value most, a resilient, innovative ecosystem, diverse communities that attract top talent, and a quality of life that supports work-life balance. With our unified Team Michigan approach, businesses scale faster and compete at the highest level.

1:52Michigan, pure opportunity. Seize your opportunity at michiganbusiness.org. Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news. This is Bloomberg Business Week Daily, reporting from the magazine that helps global leaders stay ahead with insight on the people, companies, and trends shaping today's complex economy. Plus, global business, finance, and tech news as it happens. The Bloomberg Business Week Daily Podcast with Carol Masser and Tim Stenevek on Bloomberg Radio. We are, as you know, noting the 24th anniversary of 9-11 today. It's a day when we continue to see geopolitical threats and tensions and unease here at home following the shooting and killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk during that campus event in Utah.

2:45And on a global scale, we see tensions between Poland and Russia. And so NATO certainly watching and we would assume the U.S. is as well. For perspective, we want to head to the U.S. House of Representatives. Congressman Gabe Amo, Democrat for Rhode Island's first congressional district. He joins us from the cannon rotunda in the nation's capital. Congressman Amo, thank you so much for joining us. It is this for having me this 24th anniversary of 9-11. It's a reminder that terrorism on a grand scale can and did happen here in the U.S. We've seen other forms of political violence, numerous shootings of political figures and officials.

3:25And of course, we're talking about Charlie Kirk today. Your reaction to the shooting and killing of him? Well, first and foremost, remember all those lost on 9-11 and the brave first responders and civilians who stepped in. And of course, we have another somber note today as we reflect on the killing of Charlie Kirk. And I start from a place of great sympathy, sympathy for his family, his spouse and children. And I turn to political violence that we have seen in this country in a way that we should not be experiencing. And it is not acceptable. We should not disagree and be disagreeable to the extent of taking people's lives away.

4:17You can have political divisions. You can have divides. But violent actions, murder is never, never acceptable. And yet it happens. And the attacks have happened quite a bit in the last few years. We heard some of them from Carol, the Minnesota legislators. Steve Scalise, Nancy Pelosi's husband, attacked. Of course, the attack on President Trump's life twice last year, including that assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. What is the right way to turn down the temperature in the United States right now? I think the right way to turn down the temperature is to treat one another as neighbors, treat one another as people who belong in the same community.

5:01America is great because we have origins that span the globe, but we come here because we can achieve great things. And they always happen when we work together. And so I say that to every person with a platform, a title, a place where you can influence others to today commit, recommit to moving forward with rhetoric that isn't going to inspire action like violence in our communities. We, yes, have things that we don't agree on, paths ideologically, paths based on our belief that might be different than those of other people in our community. I, as a Democrat, do not need to be mad to be angry at a Republican.

5:53We can disagree on the substance, but at the end of the day, come back and realize we're in the same mission for the same country and advancing leadership in the world. And that's what I'm going to commit to and encourage others to look inwardly and see how they can do that today. But Congressman Almo, with all due respect, that political discourse, that productive technology conversations, excuse me, and debates when you don't agree with someone's thoughts on something, it doesn't seem to happen anymore. Well, we have to do better. I'm not going to suggest that we have found the way to resolve our conflicts in the best way.

6:36But I'll tell you what isn't and will never be acceptable, and that is violence. And so we have an extra burden today to keep trying, to keep working towards meeting the ideals that I know that we share. So let me ask you about geopolitics, because you are a vice ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. We did have a big story today about Poland seeking a consultation with NATO specifically and NATO powers after shooting down drones that crossed into its territory during Russia's latest massive airstrike on Ukraine. They called the incursion and, quote, active aggression. What are you hearing from U.S.

7:12officials and the White House on this? Well, look, I go back to the president's summit with Vladimir Putin, his deadlines that weren't met. Vladimir Putin is testing limits. He is testing our resolve and our commitment to NATO and to our European allies. And the way we must respond is by recommitting to Ukraine's fight against Vladimir Putin's aggression that has only become harsher, has been more aggressive against civilians and is seeking to undermine our strength and our alliances in Europe. And so I need to hear from the White House and we need to see a commitment to Ukraine in an even stronger way.

8:02What does that commitment look like? Look, that commitment goes to certainly supporting them militarily and continuing to provide the support they need on that. But beyond that, when you have rhetoric that is uncertain about our commitments to NATO, that helps to fuel Vladimir Putin's test. And he certainly wants us to have uncertainty in our relationship with Ukraine, our relationship with Europe. And continuing to see an inconsistency from this administration provides some of that continued motivation for Putin to try actions like he did in Poland. All right. So there are definitely geopolitical concerns with everything that's going on overseas.

8:51The other thing we think about a lot is security and independence when it comes to energy. You're a member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, ranking member of the Subcommittee on Environment. Wind power is something that has been singled out several times, critically, by President Trump. Talk to us about how important offshore wind is to the state of Rhode Island. It's very important. Offshore wind is incredibly important to Rhode Island. We have a project that received a stop work order, Revolution Wind, that was set to power 350 ,000 households between Rhode Island and Connecticut.

9:31And unfortunately, the stop work order not only imperils our solution to the challenges of climate change, our work to lower energy costs, but it also puts people out of work. Right. You know, we talk about the all of the above strategy. The all of the above strategy has to include wind. And this project was 80 percent complete. Forty five out of 65 turbines in the water. And you're sending people home. That's the president's actions, not creating jobs, taking them away. And so we're continuing to work very aggressively across the aisle with Republican colleagues as well to speak to the wisdom of continuing this project.

10:13Well, let me just ask you something, Congressman. Governors in the U.S. Northeast are considering dropping resistance to natural gas pipelines and other fossil fuel projects in the hopes they can convince the president to allow those offshore wind farms to move forward. Do you agree with that possible tradeoff if that's what needs to be done to save wind farms in your home home state? Well, unfortunately, we've seen this is a mysteriously troubling turn. However, when the president has been at the negotiation table, this is something he has impressed upon. And, you know, I'm committed to wind.

10:52But again, if there is going to be an all of the above strategy, it has to include when not excluded. And so I know that the governors are making very tough decisions. I think in the long term, renewables are going to be the path that achieve our cost objectives and our climate objectives. But this has certainly been part of what the president has put forward when he has engaged these governors alongside members of his administration. OK, so let's talk about engagement of those governors. You did say working alongside Republicans here, working across the aisle to come to a resolution here. Has the president actually agreed to discuss offshore wind with the governors of those northeast states, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts?

11:34I know that there are conversations ongoing with members of the administration. I don't know of a specific commitment from the president, but the facts are clear. We need wind. And I'm hopeful that the president and his cabinet members see the wisdom in continuing a project like Revolution Wind. And it is important to my state of Rhode Island, but it's also a linchpin to growing the industry across the eastern seaboard, including in places like Virginia, including in Connecticut and Massachusetts. So I want to continue to see progress here. And I know those governors are working vigorously to get to the table.

12:13All right. So appreciate your time on this Thursday. Congressman Gabe Amo, Democrat for Rhode Island, joining us there from the nation's capital. Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Businessweek Daily coming up after this.

12:52your look, and many items come with no setup charge to help you save. And if you're really watching the bottom line, you'll find standout choices at every price point so you can make a real impact while staying on budget. Plus, you'll get expert help, fast turnaround times, and their 360-degree guarantee, so you can be 4imprint certain your order will arrive on time and look exactly right. Whatever your goal, 4imprint makes it easy to find your perfect promo match. Explore the possibilities today at 4imprint.com. 4imprint, 4certain. Support for the show comes from public.com. If you're actively involved in your portfolio, you probably catch yourself repeating the same actions, buying the dip, manually sweeping idle cash, putting on a hedge.

13:35On public, you can now create AI agents that handle all these tasks on your behalf. Just describe what you want to do in plain English. Like, if the VIX hits 25, buy a put option on the S &P 500. Or if my cash balance goes above$20 ,000, move the excess into my direct index. You approve the workflow and your agent handles the rest. Monitoring the market, watching for your conditions, and executing your strategies exactly as defined. An investing platform driven by your intent, not just your clicks. You can also get full read and write access to your account via the public API. Go to public.com slash market and fund your account in five minutes or less.

14:17That's public.com slash market. Paid for by Public Investing. Brokered services by Open to the Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA, and SIPC. Advisory services by Public Advisors, LLC, SEC Registered Advisor. Complete disclosures available at public.com slash disclosures. As industries evolve faster than ever, companies need an environment that accelerate strategic growth, and Michigan delivers on that promise. From emerging startups to global enterprises, Michigan offers what executives value most, a resilient, innovative ecosystem, diverse communities that attract top talent, and a quality of life that supports work-life balance.

14:54With our unified Team Michigan approach, businesses scale faster and compete at the highest level. Michigan, pure opportunity. Seize your opportunity at michiganbusiness.org. wise is the smart way to manage the currencies you need around the globe if you've ever sent money internationally using a traditional bank there's a good chance you've paid more than you realized hidden fees exchange rate markups and extra charges can quietly add up before your money even arrives there's a better way try wise wise uses the exchange rate you'd usually find on google helping you avoid the unwelcome surprises that often come with international transfers Whether you're sending money to family overseas, spending while on your holiday abroad, or paying bills across borders, Wise makes moving money simple, transparent, and straightforward.

15:41Wise offers 24-7 customer service and runs over 7 million daily checks to spot and stop fraud. And most transfers happen in under 20 seconds, which means your money arrives in less time than you've been listening to me. Join millions, saving billions. Be smart. Get Wise. Visit wise.com or download the Wise app today. T's and C's apply.

16:06You're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week Daily Podcast. Catch us live weekday afternoons from 2 to 5 p.m. Eastern. Listen on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business App. Or watch us live on YouTube. We are keeping a watch on that. And then there's several stories that are going on today that are certainly impacting the markets. At this moment, we are seeing news of Paramount Skydance getting ready to make a bid for rival Warner Brothers Discovery, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. This story initially reported out by The Wall Street Journal, now matched by our own Lucas Shaw.

16:42We see shares of Paramount Skydance up about 9 % in today's trade and Warner Brothers Discovery as the target. No surprise. You're looking at this one, Tim, up more than 30%. Caroline Hyde is the co-host of Bloomberg Technology on Bloomberg TV. She joins us here in the Bloomberg Businessweek studio. Caroline, initially, we did see shares of Paramount Skydance lower on this, and then they ended up moving higher. Not typical that we'd see both companies higher with news like this, but I guess, hey, people aren't concerned about the cash source of David Ellison. So right, because it looks as though the cash source would be family Ellison.

17:15Okay. And who was at one point the most wealthy person in the world yesterday and then settled just$1 billion below Elon Musk by Larry Ellison. and that was on the enormous move we saw in Oracle. Now you see a similar plus 30 % move on Warner Brothers Discovery, which would be the target in this particular area. It's a record move for the stock. But I think so many people feel that fundamentally this is what we need to see in the industry, consolidation. You're seeing David Zaslav over at Warner Brothers Discovery unwinding the deal he did several years ago because ultimately you've got cable on one side and then you have studios and streaming on the other.

17:49You want to split those apart and likelihood is Paramount would be interested in the studios and that area. Well, to that point, we should know Netflix share is hitting a session low, down more than 4 % after this report came out. So this is all about - It all starts to get interesting. Yeah, I mean, that's what it's all about though. It's all about Netflix. It's all about streaming. And it's all about M &A. And I think you'll speak to so many analysts on the street who've just been waiting for this sort of thing to happen. But you did need certain areas to come into force. You needed, of course, Comcast to be starting to split itself in two.

18:16You needed Warner Brothers Discovery to be talking about splitting itself in two. The interesting deal is, why is Paramount trying to buy both bits? Most people feel that the value for Paramount as a key studio maker, as a key streaming focus would be, of course, the areas of growth. Harry Potter and the DC Comics and the studio side of Warner Brothers Discovery. Why do they want CNN? Why do they want some of the more struggling cable parts of the business? Or maybe they feel that they could get more than some of their parts if they then sold those off in more interesting M &A. Right, like just buy it all, right?

18:47And then figure out like the parts that they don't want. Any chance somebody else comes in? Could there be another interested party? I mean, as we've heard, like the expectations around consolidation in this industry. Exactly. And look, you talk to some of the new leadership that have been thinking about when you see Versant that's been splitting off, for example, from the other key areas of Comcast. They've been saying, look, we're not going to be like a dying ember of cable news here and cable sports. We're actually going to be acquisitive. but many feel that they're actually going to be acquisitive more in the air of startups more in the area of the future of sports growth the future of news but perhaps not other cable networks but they haven't taken their name off the table when it comes to remember there's a and e out there there's so many of these other companies that could be really interesting targets i think bloomberg intelligence they're basically already saying look from a water brothers discovery perspective you're looking at maybe 17 would be the right sort of price for the whole business as a whole and you're seeing it move up to that as we speak yeah you know at the beginning of like our careers this would be a regulatory issue yeah uh the government would get involved and say we don't want this much media consolidation is that not even part of a concern for analysts right now because the ecosystem has been so beat up and the competition just isn't from cable network to cable network but it's from its eyeballs the competitive to tv now is youtube The competitor to the streaming platforms is TikTok.

20:13Everyone is fighting for your and my eyeballs. And what is the future growth story? Is it advertising? Well, advertisers are all going to new different platforms. Is there different ways in which you can charge subscription-based driving for this value of the business? I think this is an entire industry that has been upended. And I think most feel to even allow them to sustain themselves going forward, you've got to allow M &A. Otherwise, they just start to die out. You cover this world. you know, it just feels like media, technology, everything is just kind of merging. I don't know. What are you watching out for?

20:45Like what might be the next kind of shoe to drop here in terms of this story? Well, I think of this story, it is going to be interesting as to whether we see these purchases happen in cash only, whether you start to see interesting ways in which you're financing certain deals. I think a lot of the storytelling for these new businesses, particularly in the cable areas that we're going to be splitting off, is they're saying we're going to be cash rich, actually. We're going to have the balance sheet to be able to put to work. For me, this is just, look, we are at record highs in the stock market.

21:11You are seeing people going all in on the artificial intelligence story, but there is still so much optimism in dealmaking. And I think it's pretty phenomenal that you're seeing these sorts of cash bids come. I don't know how many more billionaires are out there who can start buying all these bids, but Larry Ellison is clearly something different. Or how many can say, hey, Dad, I need a little help. Yeah, yeah, yeah, just kidding. so finally on the streaming side of this for consumers should we think about this from the context of one option perhaps in the future for paramount plus subscribers and hbo max or max or whatever it's called now subscribers this becomes one thing it's supercharged and you can get everything from warner brothers discovery and paramount skydance i think you're really smart to put it that way because look how we're seeing disney trying to interact with its own bundling and the way it's bringing Hulu on a little bit more.

21:57I just bought the ESPN Hulu Disney, 30 bucks a month. I just bought it. And suddenly it makes more sense. Like what old is new again? Before we wanted everything to split off. Now we want it all once again back in our bundle. And I think that that ultimately has to be the way in which they can drive cross-pollination. And you will see people want to be able to just go to a one-stop shop. Look, you're seeing even deals done across the aisle with Amazon having, being able to offer other rivals. I mean, we will just generally want one go-to button that we can click and suddenly, voila, we can get all of them.

22:25I think you could do that with a cable subscription. I think you can do that. Right, exactly. It's called revolution, not evolution, guys. Exactly, exactly. Incredible story. Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Technology co-host Caroline Hyde. Catch her and Ed Leto every day at 11 a.m. Wall Street time.

22:55on Amazon Alexa from our flagship New York station. Just say, Alexa, play Bloomberg 1130. You know, you've got investors moving into equities, also into bonds, which is why we've seen yields all along the yield curve move down. We talked about this earlier with our team. The 10-year right now is still at 4.01. But as we know, Tim, earlier today, and as we heard from our Stuart Paul, it really was on the weekly jobless numbers that he said you saw that movement down when it comes to U.S. yield. Yeah, I want to see what Christy Akulian has to say about all this. She's head of investment strategy for the Americas at BlackRock.

23:27She joins us once again from San Francisco. Curious how you're reading this macroeconomic data, the sticky inflation, but also a weakening jobs market. What do you see? Yeah, it's great to be back with you and happy CPI Day to all who celebrate. Thank you. You too. I think what we got today was a good enough reading. Obviously, there was some acceleration in pockets, some of the places we expected to acceleration, some of that tariff pass-through happening, things like food and apparel. But I think the market is really reading this as, again, good enough for the Fed to be able to continue to focus on rate cutting.

24:06In terms of the balance of their dual mandate, it seems like attention is fully focused on the jobs market right now. So again, I think we're seeing a reaction of good enough inflation data to allow for some cutting to happen through the rest of the year. Do you think that makes sense in terms of a rate cut And I'm just curious how much you think is already kind of baked into the equity trade where we've kind of hit record after record after record. Yeah, absolutely. You know, our view is that the Fed is going to cut 25 basis points next week. We think that that's more likely than going for a jumbo just to leave themselves more optionality into the rest of the year.

24:41Obviously, that can be good for equities. But to your point, it's pretty well expected and well broadcasted at this point. So, you know, I think that I'd characterize our view on equities as we're still constructive, but we prefer, you know, those companies that have pricing power that are highly profitable. We prefer the more quality end of the spectrum. You've seen a bit of a junk rally. You've seen small caps rally over the last couple of weeks in anticipation of some of these rate cuts. But in our view, you know, you need to see both the amount of rate cuts that are expected actually be delivered and you need to see growth stay really strong.

25:16it's a tightrope in terms of that, both of those things being able to happen at the same time, it leaves us cautious on small caps. So we like equities. We like leaning into large caps. We like staying really nimble and dynamic. Something like DYNF, which is our factor rotation actively managed fund, it makes a lot of sense in moments like these. So when you want to remain nimble, does that mean you increase the amount you have in cash or cash-like investments so that you can maybe reallocate as you feel like some of the uncertain aspects of the market maybe become more certain? I mean, normally, I think the answer would be yes.

25:52But when you look at the data, investors already hold so much cash. We think it's actually more of a time to get invested. If you look at just flows over the last three years, more money has been allocated to money market funds than to stock or bond funds. And so, again, there's a pretty big wall of cash. We still think it makes sense to get and stay invested, even though rates are coming down. I think we're having a lot of conversations in fixed income about where to seek the income that you're maybe losing on some of your cash, your money markets, your high yield saving accounts. And within fixed income, we like kind of the intermediate part of the curve and focusing on the income component more than the duration is where we're really going to get returns for the next kind of six to 12 months.